Shattered Dream, Broken Soul
by LordHellPhoenix
Summary: Jaune had finally done it. He had completed his training and was accepted into Beacon, he was so close to fulfilling his dream to be a Huntsman. But what happens when an encounter with Yang Xiao Long throws a wrench into those plans? With his whole world crashing around him, how will he pick up the pieces of his life and forge onward? (Coverart: Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh)
1. Crumbling World

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Vale was a beautiful city and Kingdom. That was all Jaune Arc thought when he got off the airship that brought him from his home village. The ride was alright but he still did not like flying. Luckily, he remembered his motion sickness medicine, otherwise the trip would've been so much worse. He stood there for a few seconds with his eyes closed and taking a deep breath, letting himself fully relax after being off the metal deathtrap.

He was wearing his casual wear: black sneakers, ripped blue jeans, a black, short-sleeve hoodie and a pair of fingerless gloves. The thing that stuck out the most was the sword at his left hip: Crocea Mors. It was freshly sharpened and cleaned before his journey and it was shining in the setting sunlight. It was the weapon of his great-great-grandfather but now it was his. When his training started, he had wished to use a sword and shield, similar to Crocea Mors. He looked up to his ancestor that fought in the Great War and wanted to be exactly like him. As he grew older, it was like he always had something to strive for and something to draw strength from. He was beyond shocked when his father presented it to him just before he left. All he did was hug his father tightly and let happy tears escape his eyes.

Jaune shook his head to clear himself of his nostalgia and picked up his luggage. He pulled his backpack onto his back, which contained his combat attire and a few accessories for the outfit. Then he threw his duffle bag over his shoulder, that contained the rest of his clothes, toiletries and a few items from home. With that all set, he started to walk away from the airfield and immediately found a taxi to take him to see his uncle.

You see for the last ten years, Jaune had been trained by his father to become a Huntsman. The training was difficult, some days felt like hell if he had to be honest, but he persevered and all his hard work paid off. He was accepted at Beacon. The only thing he didn't have was his aura unlocked. It was Arc custom to only unlock their aura when their training was complete. That way they would not rely so heavily on it and it would never become a crutch. Sadly, the Arc family was massive so it kept getting pushed further rand further. Eventually, it was the day Jaune had to leave and the whole family had run late that morning so his father couldn't do so before he left. But his uncle could fix that easily enough.

His parents decided that he should stay with his uncle a few weeks before the semester began. That way he would get accustomed to Vale and he could spend some quality time with his uncle and cousins. Along with that, he could become more accustom to his aura and maybe find his Semblance. The last one was unlikely but he could be hopeful. He knew the theories and exercises for aura manipulation, he really only needed the actual experience at this point.

Jaune just looked out the window as the driver slowly made his way to a seedier part of town. A few minutes later, they had pulled off to the side of the road, a block or two from where he was going. Jaune pulled out the correct amount of Lien and handed it to the driver, telling him to keep the change. He grabbed his bags and started to walk up the street as the taxi drove away. His destination was a club not too far away.

As he was nearing it, he saw a short line of people already in front of it. Jaune chuckled because he knew the club wouldn't open for another hour or so. Jaune just ignored the line and walked up to the bouncer, who was wearing the usual black suit with red tie and sunglasses. He just held his hand up, "Sorry, kid. We're not open yet. Back of the line."

Jaune just smiled and pulled out his scroll with his ID on it, "I'm hear to see my uncle. He's expecting me."

The bouncer looked it over before he nodded slightly, "Right. The Boss and twins have been talking about you nonstop." He chuckled lightly before stepping to the side, "Go on in."

Jaune nodded to him and did just that as he pocketed his scroll. As he made it into the actual club, he saw that all the lights were still on and music was playing, just very low. As he was walking in, he scanned the room to look for his cousins or uncle. He smiled widely when he saw him at the bar with his back to him. "Uncle Hei!"

The man in question froze before turning around with the biggest smile on his face. "About time you showed up. The twins haven't stopped bugging me on when you were gonna get here." He said as he was making his way around the bar. "Get over here and hug me."

Jaune did just that. He nearly ran into him before he wrapped his arms around his uncle and he did the same to his nephew. Most of his men just smiled at them. Hei Xiong or Junior as most knew him, was very intimidating and the best info broker in Vale but when it came to his family, he was just a big teddy bear. Well, until you screwed with his family then he was like an actual bear on steroids.

After a minute or so of what looked like him trying to break Jaune with a bear hug. He pulled back enough to look at him, "So, how's my favorite nephew?" he asked with a grin.

Jaune snorted, "I'm your only nephew."

He shrugged, "True. Doesn't change the fact that you're my favorite. So, out with it."

"I'm fine. Little tired from the flight but good. Excited for you to unlock my aura though." He said with a smirk.

Hei nodded at him, "Still can't believe my kid-sister asked me to do that. Thought I was hallucinating. But, I'm honored to be the one to do it." He said with a smile and pat on his shoulder. Jaune smiled back at his uncle until Hei look over his shoulder and his eyes widened slightly. That's when he smirked and let go of him. "Good luck."

Jaune raised an eyebrow in confusion. But that was when he heard two voices shouting, "Jaune!" He quickly spun around in time to be tackled by two blurs: one red, the other white. He gave a weak protest before he was brought to the ground because of them. Jaune just groaned while on the ground, under the two bodies that crashed into him as they hugged him. He looked up to see Hei looking down at him and trying not to laugh like a madman. Jaune just sighed before he wrap an arm around each body on him. "Good to see you two, Mel, Mil." He said with a smile.

They pulled back just enough so he was looking at two identical faces with the same exact smile. "We missed you so much." Melanie said.

"What kept you? You were supposed to be here like three hours ago?" Miltia continued with an annoyed tone to her voice.

"Sorry, girls. Large flock of Grimm was spotted on the route here, so the airship had to take a detour to avoid them. And scroll service was spotty so I couldn't give you a heads up." He explained.

Melanie sat up but was still at his side with a look of relief, "Well, that explains it."

Miltia imitated her sister but crossed her arms, "But you still owe us for making us worry. So, tomorrow you're taking us out to lunch."

Jaune chuckled, "Sure, no problem. It'll let us catch up after so long." He sat up with a smile.

"Alright, alright." The three turned to Hei as he was talking. "We'll be opening soon and I need you two ready." The twins pouted but didn't argue. " And I know you don't want to deal with most of the noise and people, so why don't you go up to the guest room and get yourself settled in." He motioned with his head to a back door that would lead off to the top floor, which was a very nice apartment where the twins and Hei lived.

Jaune nodded and stood up, "Thanks, Uncle. I'll get settled and come back down to see how everything is going."

Hei just waved him off, "Take your time, Kid. Should be a usual and boring night."

Jaune nodded and picked up his bags before walking to the door then up the flight of stairs. Jaune sighed as he did. He wasn't an idiot. He loved his uncle but he knew about his less than on the straight and narrow businesses. Not in detail but he knew his uncle dealt in information and was one of, if not the best. Along with all his men being as close to a gang as you could get. What he meant by 'boring ' was no one should be coming in for anything more than a drink or music.

That caused a lot of strife between his father and his uncle. But his uncle had a code and he would not participate in anything that broke it. And he would make sure to keep that part of his life as far as possible from his family. Which meant Jaune and his family were never a possible target. But he'd hate to see what his uncle would do if someone ever tried. He loved him and his sisters almost as much as his own daughters. That was probably the main reason why his father never forbade Hei from seeing them.

Jaune sighed and shelved those thoughts yet again. He finally made it to the top of the stairs and opened the door to the apartment. He was met with a giant room that was the bulk of the apartment. It was the living room and kitchen with an open floor plan so very little divided the two, besides the small island set between them. The kitchen was full of modern and top of the line appliances. Meanwhile, the living room had a L-shaped couch and matching recliner. There was a coffee table in the middle of them on top of a carpet that covered the floor of the sitting area. They were situated in from of a huge flat screen tv with an entertainment stand below it for DVDs and games consoles and the games. On top of that, the entire apartment was soundproof so anyone up here wouldn't hear the music from below.

By the kitchen was a hallway that lead to the bathroom and the bedrooms. Jaune went down it until he found the guest room at the very end. He opened the door to show a twin-sized bed, dresser and book shelf on opposite sides of the room. On the wall right next to the door was a wall-mounted tv right across from the bed. There was also a closet right beside the dresser.

Jaune smiled, "Home away from Home." He walked in and placed the duffel bag on the bed and shrugged off his backpack. He put it down in the corner, right next to the bookshelf. He wouldn't need his combat gear or anything in there until Beacon, so there was no point in unpacking it. He then opened his duffel bag and started to put most of his clothes in the dresser; he put his jacket and hoodies in the closet though. He then took out the few books and comics he brought and put them on the top shelf of the bookshelf. On the shelf below it, he put up the knickknacks that his sisters gave him as a goodbye present. They weren't much but they meant a lot.

With that done, he took his toiletries out of his duffel bag. He put it at the bottom of his closet before he shut it before walking out of the room. He then went to the bathroom to put his toiletries away then went to the kitchen to grab a drink. He saw that the twins had a few cans of their favorite soda and helped himself. They wouldn't mind too much. He drank it while leaning against the counter. Jaune was still having a hard time believing that he was actually here. That he was really going to Beacon. All his hard work was finally paying off. He grinned at that and took another sip of his soda.

He took out his scroll and sent a message to his parents saying he was at Uncle Hei's and had just settled in. He saw the time as he was doing that and realized he had been up here for an hour. He chuckled, "Must've lost track of time." He muttered to himself. He quickly drank the rest of his soda and threw the can into the recycling before he went over to the door to get back to the club. It was then that he saw that he still had Crocea Mors at his hip. He really should put it on his bed but he still didn't want to be separated from the sword and shield. Eventually he just struggled it off. Melanie and Miltia had their weapons, along with most of his uncle's gang. And he was family, who would tell him otherwise. With that decided, he went down to rejoin the party.

When he walked into the club, it was a completely different sight than when he left. Half the place was destroyed and it was completely devoid of any patrons. And in the center of it all was a blonde haired woman, who in Jaune's opinion, was beyond gorgeous. But his awkward teenager side was pushed away and the Huntsman-in-training side came out, since she was currently fighting against Melanie and Miltia on even ground. A lot of Hei's men were on the ground, either injured or unconscious. He looked back at the blonde and saw her punching the air and sending out volleys of red dust from the yellow gauntlets she wore.

'Must be a Huntress-in-training.' He instantly thought and without a single instance of doubt, he drew Crocea Mors' sword and charged her. He closed the distance between them as she was about to land a devastating hit to Miltia. The blonde quickly spun and caught his blade on her gauntlet when he swung from his right shoulder. He looked into her lilac eyes as she gave him a confident smirk. He didn't bother to return it, he was too focused on watching her every move.

He felt more pressure come from his blade and figured she would try to throw him off. He pulled his sword back at the same time she threw her arm out, setting her off balance. He quickly stepped into her guard and delivered a slash from his right hip this time. He cut across her chest and felt his blade bite into her aura. She reared her fist back but that's when the twins caught her from both sides, with a kick and slash, sending her skidding back. The two stood on either side of Jaune and the three just stared her down.

As soon as both her feet were planted, she started to release another volleys of shots. Jaune took a step forward and reached down to his sheathe. It attached to his arm and was bringing it up. The sheathe was already deploying from the second it attached to his arm, so it was fully deployed when his arm was in front of him. Jaune braced himself and moved one of his feet back to take the volley hitting his shield.

As he was tanking the volley, the twins ran form either side to intercept her: Melanie from the left and Miltia from the right. Their blonde opponent stopped her long-range attacks and started to engage them. That's when Jaune compacted his shield back into its sheath form to reduce air drag and ran into support them.

She had just knocked Miltia back and Melanie jumped back to avoid a haymaker. That's when she saw Jaune closing in on her and she tried to connect with a right. Jaune started to slide and pivoted to his right so her fist just missed him. He started to bring his left fist up in an uppercut and as he did, he deployed his shield once again. The blonde caught the shield right to the solar plexus and she was forced to step back with a groan of pain.

Jaune pressed his advantage and started to deal a series of sword slashes. She had to keep taking steps back as she parried his blade. She then dug her feet in and a burst of yellow flames and heat erupted from her, pushing him back a few steps. Before he could think, her fist was flying at him and he brought his shield up to block. As her fist hit his shield, his entire arm shook and he grit his teeth from how bad his arm was ringing.

'I can't take many of those. I have an idea but it's so stupid.' He thought to himself. Not backing down, he quickly stepped towards her with his shield in front. As she connected another punch, his shield flew off his arm and behind them. That let him catch her in the nose with his left elbow. It was enough to stun her, so he capitalized with a heavy swing from his right with his sword. Too bad she was able to jump back just before it would make contact.

She landed a few feet back and the two stared each other down while trying to calm their breathing. That was when half a dozen blonde strands of hair slowly fell between them. Her eyes went wide before she looked down and started shaking. Jaune tilted his head in confusion but quickly felt a shiver go up his spine. She looked up and her eyes were now blood red. "You bastard!" was all she shouted before she closed the distance with discharges from both her weapons. He could do nothing to defend himself as her fist hit his chest with a force of a speeding train, minimal.

Jaune was sent flying through the air and he could do nothing to stop himself. He finally did when he hit the far wall, arm first. He fell to the ground and dropped his sword as he did. He groaned in pain and slowly tried to get into a kneeling position. His adrenaline was going so he didn't realize how bad a shape he was in. As he was trying to regain his breath, after having it knocked out of him, he checked on his arm. But he would wish he didn't.

His eyes widened when he took it in. His shoulder was dislocated but that was the least of it. He could see that his humerus was definitely broken since he could see it sticking out of place. Luckily, it wasn't sticking out of the skin but it looked like a massive bump. His forearm wasn't much better, he had two bumps there, one on either side of his forearm. His finger were defiantly broken. They were uneven and bending in weird positions. But worst was his elbow, it was bent backwards. As he stared at it, that's when the pain registered. His left hand grabbed his arm and he released a blood curdling scream.

* * *

Yang had just sent the blonde bastard that cut her hair flying towards the back wall. She was about to follow him but as soon as he hit the back wall, her and everyone still conscious heard many eerie breaking sounds. She instantly froze and just stared on in disbelief, she had heard sounds like that before but she was hoping she was wrong.

She saw him get into a kneeling position and that's when she got to see his arm and it made her stomach churn. Broken didn't even cover it. It was more like shattered. When he grabbed his arm and screamed, that's when reality finally hit her. Her eyes widened and shifted back to lilac, she had just went full strength against someone who didn't have aura.

"Jaune!" she heard the two twins shout before they ran over to him. They slid over to him and were trying to calm him as they checked him over. It was proving to be hard since he was now doubled over and screaming more. Yang took a single step forward, she didn't know what she could do but this was her fault. She had to do something. Before she could take another step, an explosion erupted a few feet in front of her. She covered her face with her arm and looked to the side.

Standing there was Junior with a rocket launcher on his shoulder. But the look on his face was nothing less than murderous. His eyes bore into her's and he was clenching his teeth so hard, she was surprised they weren't cracking. "Stay the hell away from him." His tone was filled with rage.

They heard him scream again but this time, he stopped halfway and they heard the sound of him coughing. "Junior!" one of the twins yelled, the white one. They both turned to her and she had a look of pure panic on her face. "He's coughing up blood! A lot of it!"

That caused them both to freeze for a second before Junior threw his weapon to the side and ran over to them. They gently rolled him to his back and he knew something was wrong. His breathing was raspy and he was wheezing. "She may've crushed his chest." he said quickly but trying to remain calm. The twins gasped and Yang crumbled to her knees.

"No time left." Junior said out loud. He gently laid a hand on Jaune's forehead and the other gently on his chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "For it is in our bonds that we achieve security. Through them, we become a paragon of reassurance and support to overcome anything, infinite through will and unbound by doubt. I release you and by my heart free thee."

With his words, Jaune's body erupted in a bright white light. When it died down, the three family members noticed that his breathing was back to normal. His arm was still in the same shape as before but that wasn't important now. Junior sighed, "I'll stay with him, one of you call an ambulance. Now."

* * *

It was two days later, Jaune was currently sitting in a bed in Vale's General Hospital. He was looking out the window to his right, just enjoying the view of Vale he had. Well, that and just trying to come to terms with everything. He looked down at his right arm. It was in a cast from his shoulder all the way down to his hand. He couldn't feel it, still had painkillers running through his system.

He was alone right now. After his Uncle Hei had unlocked his aura, he was put on an ambulance and brought here. Short story was that the punch broke a rib and it punctured his lung, that was why he was coughing up blood. Apparently, as soon as his aura was unlocked, it all focused on healing the life threatening wound and the rib that caused it. It was miraculous to say the least but the doctors didn't have to operate on that part of him. But because of that, he had no aura left to heal his arm. But the news on that wasn't great. Besides the breaks he knew of, apparently there were dozens of smaller fractures across the entirety of his arm. Too much pressure and it would result in worsening them.

He had woken up earlier in the day, to his cousins crying and saying they were glad he was okay. His uncle had asked him how he felt. They then told him that they stayed with him the entire time he was out, which made his heart swell a bit. That was when the doctor came in to check on him. Jaune told them to go home and get some rest, and a shower in a joking manner. They begrudgingly agreed but said they'd be back later. When they had left and after his checkup, the doctor told him everything. And Jaune was still unsure on what to do.

He heard the door open then close behind him and he sighed. He put on a small smile, "Back already? I wasn't expecting you this-" He turned and stopped when he saw who it was. The blonde woman that did this to him was standing barely ten feet away.

She looked nervous but he didn't pick up on that, too busy panicking. His eyes widened and his smile fell. He could feel his heart going a mile a minute and he was wondering if he'd have a heart attack at this point. He felt a jolt a pain go through his arm, but he had no idea if it was psychological or not. As he just stared at her in shock and fear, his left hand was slowly going toward the switch he had to call for a nurse. He was an inch away from it when she shouted and put her hand out, "Don't!"

He flinched back and closed his eyes. He quickly put his good arm in front of him, to try to offer even the slightest defense. He missed her wince at her own tone and put her arm down. She looked off to the side and spoke in a weaker tone, "Please don't do that. I'm not here to hurt you."

He opened his eyes slightly and saw that she seemed more subdued. He also saw that she didn't have her weapons either, so that added a bit more truth to what she said. 'Although, it's not like she needs them.' He thought to himself as his chest throbbed slightly. He slowly put his arm down, "So, why are you here than?" he asked timidly.

She looked up for a second but she turned away as their eyes met. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and started to play with it. "After everything that happened….I wanted to apologize for what I did. But now that I've said that, it sound really, really stupid."

Jaune just stared at her, "Apologize?" he asked in shock. He felt a wave of irritation go through him but he quickly snuffed it out. The quicker she said her piece, the quicker she would leave and the sooner his heart rate would go down.

She nodded slowly, "You're the first person I've ever hurt that badly. Especially, after I started training to be a Huntress. Junior, his men, the twins. They all had aura, so I didn't hold back. And with the way you fought, I could tell you had hunter's training as well. I didn't even think you didn't have aura. And well…." She let her sentence just drift off.

'So I was right, she is a Huntress-in-training. Then why the hell did she start tearing up the club?' he asked himself. He felt another wave of irritation go through him, along with a small flare of anger. He bit the inside of his cheek to try to stay calm. "What were you even doing there?" he asked.

She looked at him in shock before looking down and biting her lip. Like she was debating on something. She eventually gave a quiet sigh, "I've been looking for someone for a good portion of my life. I heard that Junior is great with information, so I thought I could get a lead. I got a little handsy with him to intimidate him, probably not the smartest move."

'She did what to Uncle?' Jaune thought and his left hand started to grip his sheets tightly as more anger flared inside him.

"He didn't have any information and his men showed up. I thought he could've been lying and he was trying to use his men to get me to back down. That's when I hit him and, well… you know where that went."

'Are you kidding me?' he thought as more anger swirled inside him and his grip tightened on the sheets. Anymore and he's tear them.

She took a step closer to him, "Hey. Are you okay? You don't look so-"

"Are you kidding me!?" he shouted at her. She took a step back and was shocked by the unbridled fury in his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"W-what?" she asked lamely.

"Just because you are a Huntress-in-training, does not mean you get to do whatever you want!" He continued. "You went to my Uncle's business and threatened him to get what you want and when you didn't get the answer you wanted, you threw a temper tantrum and nearly destroyed the place! Are you that fucking delusional that you thought that would be okay in any way!?"

She didn't say a word and just stared at him. He didn't let her speak though, his anger had finally reached his breaking point. "Newsflash: if you wanted his help, you could've asked and paid him like any other person. And if he didn't have anything, he could've looked into it for you! But instead, you attacked him, all his employees and my cousins! Do you realize how many people you put in danger with that stunt?! How many civilians!? Just because you're training to be a Huntress, does not mean you are above everyone else!"

She gulped before speaking shakily, "I-I know. I-I really s-screwed up."

"No, you don't know! You still don't get it!" He screamed as angry tears gathered in his eyes. "Because of you, my arm was broken severely! Even with aura, it's gonna take weeks maybe even a month to heal! Then I'll need months of physical therapy afterwards. And even then, there is little chance it'll ever be the same! I won't be able to hold a sword ever again!"

She took a step back in shock and she covered her mouth. He just kept going though as his tears fell from his eyes. "I was supposed to go to Beacon in a few weeks but you took that from me! All my training has amounted to nothing now! Ten fucking years of my life wasted because of what you did! You took away my dream! Everything I've ever worked towards! And you think saying 'sorry' is enough to fix it?!"

He just stared at her as he was breathing raggedly. The entire room was quiet and he was surprised no one had come to check on the noise. He just stared at her for a bit as she stared back at him in shock. He turned back to the window. His hand unclenched the sheets. He was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. It was calmer but there was still anger in it. "Just go. You've done enough."

Yang stood there for a few seconds. She was trying to wrap her head around everything she just heard. She unconsciously reached out to him but stopped. She lowered her head and slowly started to walk to the door. She opened the door and that's when he spoke quietly. She didn't know if he wanted her to hear it but she did anyway. "You should've just killed me. It would've been a mercy." She froze and stared across the hall. She quickly left the room and closed the door behind her.

Jaune sat there and stared out the window for what felt like an eternity. Tears were still sliding down his face but he did nothing to stop them. Soon his anger burned out, leaving with feeling empty besides the cold feeling of his own despair. He looked down and his lips started to wobble.

"Jaune?" he heard a voice. He turned to the door to see his uncle standing there with a somber look on his face. "The doctor just told me about your arm. I'm so sorry."

"Uncle Hei." Jaune said brokenly as more tears poured from his eyes. Hei quickly strode over to him and knelt down beside him. He wrapped Jaune in a hug, avoiding his right arm. He gently rubbed his back as Jaune buried his face into shoulder and he clenched the back of his shirt tightly with his left hand. That's when he lost control of himself. He openly bawled into his uncle's shoulder as his dream was shattered.

* * *

As soon as the door closed, Yang took off in a sprint away from the room. She rounded a few corners before she put her back to the wall. She was breathing raggedly. Her entire body was shaking and she slowly slid down the wall until her rear touched the floor. She looked up at the ceiling as her eyes began to tear up. She thought she had learned to not let her search for her mother control her. Back then she almost got herself and Ruby killed. But now? She had taken everything from someone innocent because of it.

She looked done at her hands as she held them palms up in her lap. They were shaking like crazy as her tears started to fall into them. He could've been a classmate to her. Maybe even a teammate. Hell, even her partner. But because of her arrogance, anger and selfishness, she had robbed him of everything. 'Do I really have any right to be a Huntress now?' she asked herself

She gave a quiet sob as she wrapped herself in a hug and started to fully cry as it felt like her very soul was breaking.

* * *

 **A/N- This story idea just came to me while I was checking out the story The Strongest Fear The Weakest For Good Reason, I'm not gonna spoil it so check it out if you're curious. The thought came to me, What would happen if Yang did injure Jaune before Beacon? And this is what I came up with. I have an idea of where this story will go if I continue it. I'm going to wait to see the feedback from any reviews before deciding. If I don't, I'll just leave it as a one-shot. Hoped you all liked it and I'll see you in the next update!**


	2. Where the Debris Lies

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

There are five stages to grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Every person goes through them all in a time of loss or trauma. Some go through them quick. Others take longer, sometimes years. Some people have the unfortunate circumstance to relapse into previous stages. Sometimes multiple times before they finally reach acceptance. Jaune was no exception.

His denial was short, only lasted an hour or so. From the time the doctor had told him about his condition up until the person who caused it to happen walked into his hospital room. He just didn't want to believe it. No way that it could be true, not after everything he went through.

His anger didn't last as long as his denial. It came when he saw her again and she tried to apologize. Quick and hot, just like the spark needed to start an inferno. He had yelled and told her off with his anger but it didn't last. It burnt out quickly. As soon as he saw the somber look in his uncle's eyes, his anger burnt out and he fell right into depression. The stage of bargaining lasted all of a second.

It had been a few days since then. He had been released from the hospital and was sent home. His uncle started to talk to a few workers and his cousins escorted him past the damaged club and up into their apartment. When they walked in, Miltia went to her room to grab something while Melanie went into the kitchen. He just walked into the living room and sat down on the couch and just looked out one of the many window to watch Vale. He went to scratch his face but stopped and looked back down to his right arm, in a cast and in a sling.

His heart clenched for a second before he sighed. He then started to send his aura into his arm, trying to accelerate the process. While still in the hospital, Melanie and Miltia had gave him the basics to how to manipulate aura and with him knowing the theory behind it, it only took a dozen or so failed tries before he got it to finally work. So, this is what he did. Circulate most of his aura from his fingertips to his shoulder then back again. The increased warmth in his broken appendage was relaxing and reassuring to him. But most of all, gave him hope it'll be back to how it was.

He just did that subconsciously as he looked out the window as it started to rain. He watched as the waterdrops slowly ran down the glass pane and just let his mind wander. He came back to reality when he felt something cold press against his neck. He flinched away from it before turning around, seeing Melanie holding out a glass of soda for him while she held a second in her other hand. She had her usual smirk on her face as she did it. "Looks like you're paying attention now." she said.

He gave her a weak smile and took the glass left-handed, "Sorry, Mel. Distracted."

She just sat down next to him and gently ran her hand through his hair, "You've always been distracted. That's what makes you my adorable little cousin." She teased.

That actually made him snort, "I'm taller than you now. Considerably." He took a sip of the soda she gave him.

She gave him a heatless glare, "Is that anyway to speak to your favorite cousin?"

He shrugged, "No. But Miltia isn't here." He smirked at her as he said his usual comeback when either of the twins said something along those lines.

Before Melanie could come up with a rebuttal, her twin sister's voice came into the room from the hallway, "Actually, I'm right here." She walked in and pulled DVD from behind her back, "So, you two ready to watch the latest in the in that superhero franchise?"

Jaune looked over to her, "Ten years of movies leading up to this point? Hell yeah."

Miltia tried to hide her smile as she walked to the DVD player, "Melanie, can you get the popcorn and snacks?"

She stood up, "Popcorn is already popping. I'll grab the rest though."

Jaune wouldn't call himself the brightest bulb out there but even he could see what they were doing. They were trying to take his mind off of what happened to him and trying to improve his mood. Both had their own ways though. Melanie would go out of her way to make the person happy. While Miltia would do things but play it off like it was the normal thing to do. Kind of like a tsundere. Although, they only did that with people they loved, like family. That just made him smile and just accept their treatment.

Miltia was frantically looking around the tv and he raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask her what she was doing when she shouted, "Who the hell lost the remote!?"

Jaune's eyes slowly panned down to the coffee table in front of him and there it was. In plain view. He chuckled and she turned to him with a glare, "What's so funny!?" His eyes met her's and he just grinned. He then slowly looked down and she followed until her eyes landed on the remote. Her jaw dropped and he just started laughing. She blushed and glared at him, "Oh shut up!"

"What's going on?" Melanie asked as she walked in with a tray with a bowl of popcorn, a few boxes of candy and a few more drinks. She looked at Jaune trying to breathe after laughing so hard to Miltia looking embarrassed as all hell and blushing before finally looking at the remote on the table. She gained a deadpanned expression before she looked at her sister, "Again?"

She just looked away and crossed her arms over her chest, "Shut up." Melanie just rolled her eyes at her sister's antics before placing the tray on the coffee table and reclaiming her seat on Jaune's left while Miltia sat on his right hand grabbed the remote to play the movie they would all enjoy for the next few hours.

The three enjoyed the movie greatly up until the ending where Miltia stood up and shouted, "Are you kidding me!? You can't end a movie like that!"

Melanie just looked over at her sister, "Apparently they can."

She turned to her sister, "You can't just let the bad guy win and kill off half the cast!"

Jaune decided to add in his two-cents, "Technically, they weren't killed. They just faded out of existence."

Miltia's eyes snapped over to him, "How is that any different!?"

He shrugged, "Not sure how to explain that. But they'll figure out a way to fix everything in the sequel. That's how these things work out." He then picked up the remote and turned off the movie. Miltia just pouted and sat back down on the couch, stuffing chocolate into her face while she grumbled.

Melanie just poked his shoulder, "You're taking this rather well. I thought you would be upset by the ending."

He shook his head, "Nah, I knew the bad guy was going to win. Only way it would make any sense since they already revealed there'd be a sequel. Besides, that gauntlet was OP."

"True." Melanie nodded. That was when the door opened showing and exhausted Hei. He slowly walked across the room to the fridge to grab a mineral water. He started to walk over to his recliner as he drank greedily from the bottle. The three of them just watched him as he practically collapsed into the chair with a sigh. "Tough day?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, talking to the contractor all day. Not any structural damage thankfully. But the repairs are still going to take a month. Probably two if the contractor is as lazy as I'm thinking he is." He ran a hand down his face with a groan, "So, glad I had full coverage for insurance. It should cover all of it and a few renovations I've been thinking about." He then looked to Jaune, "And I have some information that you might like."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "What info, Uncle?"

With a grunt, he sat up and put his water on the table. He then pulled out his scroll and started going through different pages before he found what he was looking for. He handed it to his nephew, who took it in confusion before he looked down and gasped. There was a picture of a very familiar blonde and a lot of information but the picture made his arm ache with phantom pains. "Is this…?" he asked.

Hei nodded, "All the info I could dig up on the blonde that trashed the club." The twins stared wide eyed at Junior then back to Jaune. "Her name is Yang Xiao Long. Seventeen and just graduated from Signal Academy. Also found out she has been accepted to Beacon." That caused Jaune to grip the scroll tighter. "With this, we could sue her or even press charges. But, since you were affected more than anyone, I'm going to leave this up to you, Jaune."

Jaune just looked down at the scroll as he looked at her picture, cocky grin and all, he just felt the embers from his anger start to light again. She had broken his arm, pretty much guaranteeing he'd never be a Huntsman, and now he finds out she is going to the very school he was supposed to. She was going to get exactly what she wanted and get away scot-free. Well, not anymore. With this he could ruin her life and take everything away from her. Karma.

As he thought about that, he started to think back to the hospital and the look in her eyes. He didn't realize it because of how angry he was but now, he had more clarity. That look she had in her eyes, what was it? Sorrow? Regret? Pity? He wasn't sure but that doused the flames of his anger just a bit and his depression came back in full force.

Yeah, she broke his arm but did that warrant ruining her entire life for it? And suing her? He doubted she had the money to go through something like that and it would just hurt her family more than anything else. No point in hurting the many for the sins of a few. Besides, he wanted to protect people. That's part of why he wanted to be a Huntsman. Hurting someone out of spite was never him and he didn't want that to change.

With a defeated sigh, he handed the scroll back to his uncle. "Just leave it be, Uncle."

That shocked the three, "Jaune, are you sure? After everything that she did to you, she should face the consequences." Junior told him.

"Uncle, suing her would just hurt her family. They had nothing to do with this. Besides, you already said it, you don't need the money to fix the club. And I sure as hell don't need it." He looked down at his cast, "Yeah, this sucks. But ruining her life wouldn't fix this and I wouldn't get anything out of it besides revenge. It's just not worth it." He said in neutral tone.

"But, Jaune-" Junior started.

"Stop." He said with an edge to his voice that took them all by surprise. "I don't want to do anything." He stood up, "If you really want to do something, send a letter to Beacon explaining what has happened to me and her. Let them deal with it their way. Maybe send one to her parent's too. But that's it. Nothing else." He started to walk past them with his head lowered.

"Jaune..." Miltia said.

"I'm going to bed. See you all in the morning." He told them as he went to his room.

They all watched him go and when they heard his door shut, the twins smacked Junior on the back of his head, hard. "Ow! What!?"

"You're an idiot, that's what." Miltia growled at him. "Why the hell would you bring _her_ up now?"

"I was trying to help him out after everything that happened to him." Junior defended himself.

Melanie sighed, "Jaune isn't like us though. He has been raised on the tales of his ancestors and heroes. The only way he'd want revenge is if the culprit hurt someone he cared for. He doesn't hold himself in high regard, you should remember that, so of course he wouldn't want revenge for himself."

"And you ruined all the progress we were making!" Miltia shouted at him and he flinched. "We finally got him to start acting like his old self. He was being snarky with us, laughing, nerding out at a movie he was really looking forward to. He wasn't back but it was a start and you just-" she stopped and just growled at him.

Junior just looked at his two adopted daughters before he looked down in shame. He knew both had good points and he knew he royally screwed up. He sighed and took out his scroll to start typing the letter Jaune had asked for. It was the least he could do, respect his wishes. He could do little else. His sister had warned him that his double life would get people hurt and she was right. And worst of all, it was his only nephew that was at ground zero. How was he supposed to fix this?

* * *

Yang was sitting in her room at Patch. Just sitting at the head of her bed and looking out the window. She saw Ruby playing with Zwei and gently smiled before it quickly fell from her face. This wasn't the usual Yang Xiao Long that her family knew.

She had graduated Signal and was heading out to Beacon soon, she should be out having a great time. She should be celebrating. Hell, she should really be down there teaching Ruby some hand-to-hand, but she wasn't. She just sat in her room from the moment she woke up until she went to sleep. Only leaving to go to the bathroom or to get something to drink or eat before bringing it back. This is what she had been doing since she came back home. After she went to see Jaune Arc.

Jaune Arc. That was his name. The name of the life she ruined. She only knew it because she overheard it from his doctor as he was talking to Junior as she snuck by them. Everything about that night haunted her and she kept reliving it. The punch she threw. Him hitting the wall. Hearing that eerie sound of his arm breaking. The sound of him screaming that bloodcurdling scream as the pain finally registered with him. But worse was the reality that if Junior didn't unlock his aura, he could be dead.

She turned from her window and looked down at her hands in her lap. She raised them and they started to shake like crazy. These were the hands that broke him. Nearly killed him. The fists she had trained for years to fight Grimm or fallen Huntsman, had almost killed an innocent soul. One who just was trying to protect his family. That was the worst part. The two of them could've had a kinship. She would risk everything to protect her family, especially Ruby. And look what she did to him, someone that would probably do the same with his family.

She put her shaking hands down and looked over to her nightstand. Sitting there was Ember Celica in their compact form. She hadn't worn them since that night and she was having a hard time with the reality that she'd have to wear them again. Every time she reached for them, her hands would spasm even worse than they were a minute ago. How was she supposed to be a Huntress if she couldn't even touch her weapon?

She sighed and leant the back of her head against the wall. She looked up at the ceiling. "Do I really have the right to be a Huntress?" she asked out loud.

She didn't get her answer though. All she heard was her father's voice from downstairs, "Yang! Come down here!"

She flinched at his tone, "Great. He's pissed." She muttered to herself. Taiyang was never quick to anger so if he was mad, it was something serious. She got off her bed and left her room. She made her way down the stairs and halfway down, she could see her father sitting in the arm chair. His back was to her but she could tell by how he was sitting, leant forward with his elbows resting on his knees, that he was indeed very angry. "What's up, Dad?" she asked nervously.

He answered but didn't turn to her, "Sit down, please." He said please but she knew he wasn't asking her.

She swallowed and made her way down the rest of stairs. She then walked past him and sat down on the couch. He was now at a forty-five degree angle from her and she could see him clearly. His face was the epitome of angry. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were looking down at a paper on the table in front of him. His glare was so intense, she was shocked the paper didn't catch fire from it. He had his fingers linked together and his mouth was hidden behind them so she couldn't see the frown that was definitely behind it.

For five minutes, they sat like that in silence. And Yang was growing more and more nervous. If her father was mad, he'd usually yell and move past it. But the way he was acting now, it was unnerving for her. Thankfully, he finally decided to speak. He pulled his hands from his mouth and looked at her. She looked into his eyes and she felt like a five-year-old about to be yelled at. He motioned to the paper on the table, "Do you know what this is?" he asked in a calm voice.

She looked at the paper but couldn't read it, so she had very little idea on what it was. She looked back at him and hazarded a guess., "A letter?"

He nodded his head once, "And do you know who it's from?"

She just shook her head.

"Well, let me tell you. It's from a Mr. Hei Xiong. But maybe you know him as 'Junior'?" Yang froze at that. She didn't even breathe. After a minute or so of her staring at him like a deer in headlights, he continued, "Do you know what he wrote me about?"

She cleared her throat and looked down. She spoke in a whisper, "I have a good idea."

"Well, let me clarify it for you." Tai said as he tapped the paper with his index finger. "Apparently, you went to his club, one you are too young to go to, I'll remind you. While there, you threatened him for information and when he didn't have the information, you assaulted him and his employees. Along with that, you caused severe property damage to his business. You then started to fight with his adopted daughters and his nephew. Care to tell me what happened next?"

She didn't dare look up at him. She answered in a weak and shaky voice, "I hit him and broke his arm."

She jumped when Tai slammed his hand on the table. She looked at him and his eyes were burning with anger, "No. You _shattered_ his arm." There was a very tense silence between the two as Tai was glaring at his eldest daughter. "Do you know how bad this is, Yang?"

She slowly looked down and said one weak word, "Yes."

"I don't think you do. You do realize he has grounds to sue you for all the damage to his place, right? Or worse, he could press charges and have you arrested." Tai informed her.

Yang was shaking slightly and just managed to nod her head as she looked down.

Another silence followed and Tai just stared at his shaking daughter, who refused to look him in the eyes. He eventually took a deep breath and sighed, "Yang." He said calmly. "What were doing there in the first place? Why did you do all this?"

After a few seconds, she answered him. "I was trying to find information on Mom."

Tai just stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds. He then shook his head and made to get up from his chair. Before he could, she asked him one question, "How much trouble am I in?"

He looked at her still shaking and answered her. "You're lucky. Mr. Xiong isn't going to sue or press charges."

Yang stopped shaking and sat in a silence. She then spoke up shakily, "W-what?"

He nodded, "You heard me. He was all for it but he left the decision up to his nephew. And he said to just let it go and to just send me this letter." He looked back to the letter, skimming it. "What was his name again?"

"Jaune." Yang said and Tai looked at his daughter, who was shaking again. "His name is Jaune Arc." She sniffled slightly, "W-why?" She looked up to her father to show that tears were running down her face. "W-why would he do t-that?"

"Yang?" he asked confused.

She started to shake more and she started to hug herself as she cried. "I hurt him so badly. I took away his dream. He should hate me, want me to suffer. So, why is he letting me off so easily? I don't deserve it."

"Sweetheart." Tai said quietly before he sat next to and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. As soon as she felt that, she practically threw herself into his arms and started to cry into his chest. He was genuinely surprised by this and could do nothing but hold her and try to calm her down. It took almost twenty minutes before she stopped crying but she refused to let him go. He looked down at his daughter, "You better now?"

She shook he head, "No. I'm not." Tai gently rubbed her back and she started to speak again. "I went to see him, while he was in the hospital. I wanted to make sure he was okay and to apologize, as stupid as that sounds." She shook a bit before she spoke up again. "He told me that because of what I did, his arm would take a month to heal, even with aura. Then he'd need physical therapy and even then, his arm would probably never be the same."

"He even told me he was supposed to go to Beacon soon. But with his arm…there's no way he'll be able to make it. And if his arm will never be the same…how could he hope to get in later? So, why isn't he trying to get back at me? He has every right to be angry. To hate me." She looked into her father's eyes and asked brokenly, "So, why?"

Tai sighed and motioned to the letter, "He wrote that his nephew is in a bad place right now. But, his words were, 'Ruining her life wouldn't fix this and I wouldn't get anything out of it besides revenge. It's just not worth it.' Maybe he did not do it out of goodness of heart, but maybe because he didn't want to ruin your life like you did with him, or something like that. Maybe he's was just trying to be the better person."

Yang sniffled, "Yeah, great. I break a kindhearted guy that probably just wanted to be a Huntsman for a better reason than I do. And he is one of those few people who don't want revenge." She sat in a silence for a while. "Dad?" she asked.

"Hmmm?" he responded back.

"After everything I did, do I have any right to be a Huntress?" she asked again.

He thought about it for a while, "I guess that depends on you, Yang. Do you think you do?"

She just shrugged, "I don't know anymore. I keep thinking about what I did to Jaune. I've even been having nightmares about it. I can't even pick up weapons without shaking. So, how am supposed to go from here?"

"Well, I can see two choices for you. One, you quit and find something else to do with your life. Give up on all the training and hard work you put into it. Or two, you can learn from this and make sure something like this never happens again. Make yourself that you can be proud of. Make this your repentance."

She snorted, "Yeah, right. Go to the same place he was supposed to go. Like that will make things better."

"Think of it as an added challenge. Besides if you do go to Beacon, it won't be as easy as you think. I got a call from Professor Ozpin not long before I called you down." Yang flinched at that. "Yup, he received a similar letter. He is still willing to accept you into Beacon but with three stipulations."

Yang looked up at him hesitantly, "Which are?"

"If you do pass Initiation, you will have a weekly Anger Management session with Professor Goodwitch. You will be restricted to staying on Beacon Grounds unless explicitly being allowed off by the Headmaster himself. And finally, you will be on probation of sorts. If you prove to him that you do not belong, he'll expel you there and then." Tai explained to her.

Yang was shocked but pulled away from her father. She stared at the table for a while. "I'm not sure on what to do. Can I think about it?"

Her father just nodded, "Take all the time you need." She nodded and stood up, intent on going back to her room. "One last thing." She turned back to her father who had an understanding smile, "You made a mistake, a bad one. But one mistake does not make you a monster or criminal. No matter what you decide, I will always love you, my Sunny Little Dragon."

She looked at her father in shock before she had a small smile, "Thanks, Dad. Love you too." She then went back up to her room.

When he heard her door close he sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "Wish you two were still around. Would make these things easier to get through." Tai said out loud as he thought about his two past loves. He then stood up and went to prepare dinner for his family.


	3. Rebuilding from the Wreckage

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

It had been about a month and a half since Jaune had his arm broken. And Jaune had the opportunity to prove his doctor wrong. Instead of the three to four weeks they thought it would take to heal his arm, it only took him two and a half. The constant circulation of his aura through the limb had caused the healing process to skyrocket. He was ecstatic at first until the cast came off.

As soon as it came off he tried to test his arm and it was disheartening. For one, his entire arm felt weak but that made sense because he didn't use it for almost three weeks. That's when he started to move it around and the rest slowly sank in. It was difficult, if not impossible, for him to raise the arm above his head. His shoulder was not cooperating. His wrist felt stiff, like there was something wrapped tightly around it and he couldn't roll it as easily. Plus his grip. It was very weak and his hand would spasm if he made a fist. On top of everything, his arm was shaking like crazy every time he moved it even slightly. He now realized what the doctors meant by it never being the same again.

Not long after that, Jaune started to go to his physical therapy sessions. He was determined to get his arm back to the way it was. He was going to be a Huntsman. When the day came where he was supposed to go to Beacon, he felt like he was shot in the stomach. He was so close. Just one airship ride away from Beacon. He was so very tempted to do it. But he knew better. He knew he would just get himself killed if he did. With that thought in mind, he begrudgingly made his way to his physical therapy session.

He tried to just focus on that. Just every day to make his arm just a little better, a little stronger. But it was getting to him. He had been going at it for nearly a month now and the improvement was very marginal, barely recognizable. He could feel it had gotten better but the reality of how long it would take to 'fix' was getting to him. His uncle and cousins were there to support him. Always ready to lift his spirit. But it still wasn't enough. He was slowly breaking and his depression was still in full effect. And getting worse.

He was sitting in his room at his uncle's place. He was sitting on the bed with his arms resting on his legs as he stared down at the floor in front of him. The day didn't go well. After his physical therapy session, where he again made very little progress, he got a call from home. It was his parents. They were wondering how Beacon was going and his heart just dropped. He hadn't told them about his accident and everything after that. He always tried to avoid that subject. But now he had no choice but to tell them, he could never actively lie to his parents.

His parents were shocked to say the least. His mother almost broke down and was asking him if he was okay while nearly in tears. His father was livid. He was going on and on about how he knew Hei would get his family hurt eventually. The whole time Jaune was becoming more and more frustrated at them. He didn't want to talk about his condition and he didn't want his uncle to be badmouthed when he was doing everything he could to help him. He didn't want to be angry with his parent. He knew they were just being emotional and worried. But Jaune finally lost it when his father all but told him he was coming home. Jaune snapped. Badly. And he could still hear what he shouted at his parents on repeat: "Shut up! You two have no idea what's been going on with me! So until you two can get your heads out of your asses, you can stay out of my life!" With that said, he hung up and threw his scroll against the wall and breaking it.

His anger cooled quickly after that and he collapsed on his bed. He had been sitting in the same position ever since. His eyes slowly looked over to the broken scroll next to the wall before he sighed sadly. He regretted what he said to his parents, he really did. But everything they said just struck a cord and he just snapped.

His eyes slowly panned over to the left side of his closet. There was Crocea Mors, leant against the wall. It had been there since his return from the hospital. He looked at it every day and it helped give him the strength to keep going. So that one day he could wield it again.

He stared at it for a while before he stood from his bed. He walked over to it and reached down with his left hand. He then ran the finger of his right hand over the sheathe. The cold metal always gave him a sense of peace. When his finger met the crossgaurd, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held the sheathe at waist level as right hand shakily gripped the handle.

The tremors started to shake up his arm again but he chose to ignore them as best as he could. He gripped the handle as hard as he could and slowly started to draw the old sword. His arm was shaking the whole time and after what felt like an eternity, but was actually five seconds, the blade was fully drawn. He held the sword in front of him and pointed towards the door. The entire sword was shaking just as bad as his arm. He narrowed his arm and tried to stop it, gripping the handle harder. That was too much for his wrist and it spasmed causing the ancestral blade to fall to the ground with a resounding clatter.

For a few seconds, Jaune just stared at his sword on the ground. He then looked down at the shaking mess he called his arm. As he stared at it, his grip on the sheathe tightened until his knuckles were white. He grit his teeth and clenched his right hand, causing it to shake even more. His anger finally boiled over and with a shout, threw his sheathe onto the ground with an even louder clatter. He then kicked it away and turned to the wall, punching it with his right hand repeatedly. Every hit was causing pain to shoot through his arm, but he didn't care. Too absorbed by his anger.

After a few minutes of that, his knuckles were bleeding as his arm hung limply at his side and his forehead was leant against the wall as he was breathing raggedly. He stared at the new hole in his wall but felt nothing. He felt so useless. Broken.

He looked at his arm in disdain. As long as his arm was like this, he knew his dream was as good as done. Gone before it ever began. He turned around and leant his back and the back of his head against the wall as he slowly slid down to sit on the floor. He stared up at the ceiling with a blank look in his eyes. His eyes slowly looked down to his sword as it laid where he dropped it. He just looked at the sword for a minute or so before he looked at his right arm. He stared at that for a minute as a dangerous idea formed in his head. His depression and anger feeding into his sheer desperation to get his life back.

He stood up from the wall and went over to his dresser to get one of his belts. He pulled off his hoodie as he did, dropping it onto the floor before picking up the leather accessory. One handed, he wrapped it around his right bicep, almost at his shoulder and tightened it. He put the slack between his teeth and bit down to prepare for the pain. He reached down with his left hand to pick up his sword. He held it tightly as he positioned the blade one his right arm, an inch or two below the belt. He took a few deep breathes and ignored the knocking and voices behind his door. He focused his aura away from that section of his arm before he started to cut into his arm and his pained scream started to escape through his clenched teeth.

His door was kicked in and he heard two near identical voices shout, "Jaune!" Before he knew it, he was tackled to the ground and his sword fell from his hand. He ignored the two bodies trying to hold him down as his left hand frantically reached for his sword. He saw it get kicked away by a heeled foot before two hands grabbed his arm and held it to the ground. Jaune tried to fight back but a weight settled onto his chest. He tried to kick and use his legs to displace it as his eyes never left the tool that would sever the dead weight holding him back.

"Miltia! His legs!" Melanie shouted in a struggling voice.

"On it!" Miltia shouted and Jaune felt a weight settle onto his thighs and a hand grip each of his shins, pinning them to the ground.

Jaune struggled for a few more minutes before he finally relented. His body went limp as he stared up at his ceiling again. He opened his mouth and the belt fell out of it as he started to breathe deeply. He laid like that for a bit as blood was slowly dripping into the carpet from his bleeding knuckles and arm. Then he heard Melanie nearly shout, "What the fuck were you trying to do!?"

He looked down from the ceiling to see Melanie laid across his chest and her pinning his left arm with her hands. She was facing him from the left side of his body. She was glaring at him with anger and fear shining in her eyes. He lifted his head to look over he to see Miltia was laying across his thigh but from his left and her head peaking over her twins hips to look at him in shock. He had to guess that she was holding his legs down wither own hands. His head fell back onto the floor and he just looked at the ceiling again. He answered her in an emotionless voice, "Nothing."

This time Miltia answered, "That wasn't nothing! It looked like you were trying to cut your damn arm off!"

He just shrugged and kept looking at the ceiling. "Same difference."

"What is wrong with you?!" Melanie shouted at him in shock.

"Let's see. First, my arm is useless. My therapy is doing nothing to fix that. My aura has done nothing to help this scenario. My training has all been for nothing. I can't hold my weapon. I lost my chance to go to my dream school." His voice started to rise in volume and emotion. "My dream has scattered before it ever began! I've pretty much just cut my parents out of my life!" Tears started to flow from his eyes and his voice started to break. " I've become a burden to you two and Uncle Hei! I've become nothing but a waste of space!" He shouted that last part and was breathing raggedly before he spoke in a whisper. "I wish it was my head that hit the wall instead of my arm…at least then, I wouldn't be so worthless."

He turned his head away from the ceiling and closed his eyes as he broke down. As he was laying there he felt the twins let go of his arm and legs. He also felt Miltia get off his legs as Melanie started to undo the belt from his arm. Melanie got off his chest and he was convinced they leave to let him wallow in his sadness.

That was until he felt a weight settle onto his lap and two hands grab his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see that it was Melanie and she had tears falling from her own eyes. She slowly started to pull him into a sitting position as Miltia got behind him to do the same. Once he was, Melanie leant his head onto her shoulder as her arm wrapped around him, hugging him close. Miltia did the same thing from behind and he could feel them bury their faces into each of his shoulders. He could feel his shirt become wet from their own tears as they embraced him. Jaune couldn't do anything but continue to cry as he was held in the warm and secure embrace of his cousins.

The three sat on the ground for probably the better part of twenty minutes. Finally, their tears stopped and Jaune gave on last sniffle. The twins raised their heads and Melanie gently rubbed his back as she spoke, "Feeling better?"

He just shook his head very slightly, keeping it on her shoulder. "Not really." There was a few seconds of silence before he continued, "I'm sorry about this."

He felt Miltia hold him tighter, "Don't be. You needed to get that out. You've done the same for us too many times to count. Now it was our turn."

He was silent for a few more seconds, "I just feel so worthless."

"You're not." Meanie spoke up with a steely determination in her voice. "You mean so much to so many people. Especially your family."

"And us." Miltia added. "You mean the whole world to us and Hei. You're our only friend in the world, Jaune. The person we trust most outside of our dysfunctional family."

"We love you so much." The two said in perfect sync.

He shook slightly and tears gathered in his eyes again but he didn't let them fall. He sniffled again. "Thanks. I-I needed to her that."

He felt Miltia shrug from behind him, "It's the truth. No big deal."

Melanie slowly started to stroke the back of his head, "Besides, your dream isn't over yet."

He looked up and he saw her makeup had ran from her crying but she had a small smile on her face. "You wanna be a Huntsman, right?" He nodded dumbly. "Well, we're going to help you do it."

Jaune was confused, "What?"

"She's right." Jaune looked over his shoulder to look at Miltia. She was in the same state as her sister, running makeup and small smile. "We're going to help you train, you idiot. True, you will probably never be able to use your old fighting style again. But we can help train you in a new one."

Melanie nodded, "Exactly. We'll change you from Jaune, Knight in Shining Armor…"

Miltia picked up from where her twin left off, "To Jaune, Badass Enforcer in Leather."

That sounded ridiculous and caught him off guard. He couldn't help the snort that escaped him and quickly turned into a chuckle before it became full blown laughter. The twins smiled before joining him. They laughed until their sides ached and they couldn't breathe.

When they were finally done, Jaune sighed and shifted how he was sitting. Melanie got off his lap and he wrapped his right arm around her as Miltia moved to his left so he could wrap that arm around her. He held them close and kissed the top of their heads. "I love you two. Thank you."

The two smiled before they hugged him back, "You're welcome." They said together.

Junior was standing at the end of the hallway and he just looked down at his nephew's room with a saddened look in his eyes. He knew Jaune was hurting but could do nothing to help him. He was lucky that those two were able to stop him before he did something he would regret.

His fist clenched. He felt so useless. He could do nothing for his nephew and he was the one that got him into this mess. He sighed sadly before he committed himself to what he had to do. He slowly walked away and out of his apartment. He started to walk down the stairs to the club as he pulled out his scroll to make a few calls to people he had favors with. If the twins were going to help him train, he would make sure he had everything he needed to be a Huntsman.

* * *

Ruby Rose was sitting in her dorm room, doing her homework so she could be the best team leader possible. She was still shocked she made it into Beacon two years early and was made a team leader. After a bit of tension between her and her partner, Weiss Schnee, things had calmed down and things were looking up for her. Except for one thing, Yang.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her sister more than anything. For the longest time, they were the only people they could rely on. That's how she knew something was wrong with her. She acted normal, as in being boisterous and fun loving around the team and their sister team, but when she thought no one was around or watching, she just looked sad.

Her fighting was also off, for a lack of better term. She was still an amazing fighter but she didn't have the same energy she had before. Like there was something holding her back. Along with that, the few times her Semblance would activate, she'd freeze for a few seconds. She would get this nearly terrified look in her eyes and would stop moving. She nearly lost a fight because of it.

She had even brought it up to her team because she needed to talk about it with someone. Weiss and Blake didn't know Yang very well yet, so they couldn't help her out as much as she hoped. They pretty much told he that Yang would probably come to her when she was ready. Although, Blake did tell her that something weird happened in the Emerald Forest during their initiation. Yang had been fighting two Ursai and one of them had managed to cut her hair. She went berserk before brutally pummeling the beast. But as soon as she did, she froze up. She didn't even react when the other Ursa charged her. The ninja even said she wasn't sure what would have happened if she didn't intervene.

That really worried the young reaper. The what ifs of what could've happened made her very uneasy. That's why she had decided to talk to her sister tonight. Weiss and Blake had gone to the library, Weiss to look for books for her homework and Blake to have some peace to read. That gave her the best opportunity to speak to her sister in private once she got back from her Anger Management session with Professor Goodwitch. Another thing she would have to ask her about. Yang would adamantly deny that she had an anger problem before, so what changed to make that happen.

As Ruby sat there looking at her book, she started to wonder when exactly her sister started to change. That's when she remembered that a few weeks before Beacon, Yang had gone to Vale late one night and she didn't come home until the afternoon of the next day. She went up to her room and saying she was tired. But after that, she had stayed locked up in her room for a few days until she started to come out more and more. And thinking back, that's when she felt like her sister was a bit off but she never gave it much thought.

That was when the door to the dorm opened and in walked a tired looking Yang. She gave a yawn and gently started to rub the back of her head. Ruby smiled at her, "Hey, Yang."

She looked over to her sister and smiled, "Hey, Sis. What ya doing?"

She motioned to the book in front of her, "Homework. How was you session with Professor Goodwitch?"

That seemed to make her deflate a bit. She sighed, "It went." She slowly walked over to her and Blake's bunk beds and collapsed onto her partner's bed. She just stared up at her bunk as she gained a sad look in her eyes.

Ruby just looked at her sister for a bit before she took a deep breath, 'Now or never.' She thought to herself. "Yang, can we talk?"

Yang instantly sat up at the distressed and troubled sound of her sister's voice. "Of course." She gently patted the bed next to her. Ruby jumped down from her bunk and sat down next to her. Yang wrapped her arm around her and asked, "So, what's wrong?"

She looked up at her sister, "I think I should ask you that."

Yang went rigid for a second before she tried to play it off, "What are you talking about?" she chuckled weakly, "Nothing's wrong. What would make you think-"

Ruby cut her off, "Yang, you've asked me to never lie to you. Please do the same for me." Shocked lilac stared into determined silver. Eventually, Yang sighed sadly and nodded weakly, "So, what is the problem?"

Yang's arm slowly fell from her sister's shoulder as she rested her hands into her lap. "I really screwed up, Ruby." She said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"I made a huge mistake and I can't ever fix it." Yang said dejectedly.

"Yang, what did you do?" she asked cautiously.

She took a deep breathe to calm her nerves, "You remember that night I went to Vale and I didn't come back until the next day?" Ruby nodded. "Well, I heard there was an info broker, Junior, out there and I was hoping that they could get me the information I needed. And how I handled the whole situation….was just so fucking stupid. Looking back I'm so ashamed of it."

"Instead of like a normal person and ask for the information, I went in there and pretty much threatened him. His employees tried to stop me and I just started fighting all of them. It wasn't hard until these twins showed up and they were good. And as I was fighting them, his blonde guy showed up and started to help them out. We fought and he was really skilled, Hunter training good, and my Semblance activated and he managed to cut my hair."

She raised her shaky hands to grip the sides of her head as she looked down, "I-I just snapped. I h-hit him as hard as I c-could. He went flying into the wall and my blood froze when I h-heard the b-breaking sounds." She was breathing deeply as her voice became filled with emotions. "Then he screamed in so much pain. I-I s-shattered his arm and n-nearly c-crushed his chest." Her whole body was shaking at this point. "He-he didn't have his a-aura unlocked."

Ruby just stared at her sister in pure shock. Was she hearing this right? Was this real? "You attacked a civilian?" Yang just nodded in shame. Ruby's jaw dropped. "Yang?" she said, her voice filled with disappointment and fear. And that hurt Yang more than her screaming at her.

"I know. I know. I'm a monster." She looked over to her sister as tears poured from her eyes. She quickly turned away from her sister in shame. "Junior was able to unlock his aura in time and they were able to get him to the hospital. I went there the next day to check on him and to apologize." She gave a humorless laugh. "Because I'm an idiot and thought that would do any good."

"And I hate myself so much because of what he told me." She added in a low tone as more tears escaped her eyes. "I shattered his arm and even with aura, it is never going to be the same again." That earned a shocked gasp from her little sister.

She stood up from the bed and started to pace around as her eyes never fully focused on anything. Tears still pouring from her eyes. "He was supposed to come to Beacon, Ruby. He was supposed to be our classmate. Hell, he could've been mine or your partner. But I took that all away from him!" she shouted and Ruby jumped slight from the outburst.

Yang stopped and looked down at her shaking hands, "I took everything from him. He could've sued me or had me arrested. But instead, do you know what he did?" she asked her little sister who just shook her head. "Nothing. He did nothing. All he did was send a letter to Dad and Ozpin. He didn't even write it to make me look like a monster. He told them everything and let them decide what should be done." Her legs started to tremble and she eventually collapsed to her knees. "I… I just… I don't understand why?" she said hysterically before she covered her face wither hands and lost all control of her emotions.

Ruby just stared in disbelief at her distraught sister. She had never seen Yang this emotional before. She wasn't sure what she should do. She had an idea on what she could do but she didn't know if it was the right thing to do. She absolutely didn't agree with what she did. She wanted to be angry at her sister for doing such a terrible thing. But seeing how hurt she was, how much she was suffering from it. She couldn't do nothing.

She got up from the bed and walked over to her older sister. She knelt down next to her and held her tight. Yang froze, not used to them swapping roles. She was supposed to give emotional support to her younger sister, not the other way around. But in that moment, she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around her smaller frame and wept into her shoulder. Ruby the entire time said nothing and just slowly stroked her back.

Yang eventually stopped crying but didn't dare let go of Ruby. Afraid she would leave her as soon as she did. She sniffled before she spoke up weakly, "I keep having nightmares about it. All the time. I see myself fighting him from an outside perspective. I see myself lose my cool and go for that punch. No matter what I do or shout, it doesn't stop. I hit him and then I'm standing there with my fist extended. He hits the wall and he just looks so broken. He asks me repeatedly, 'Why did I do it to him?' and before I can say anything…he dies. Right in front of me. That's when I wake up."

Ruby tried to help, "But you didn't, Yang."

"But I could've." She replied stubbornly. Ruby pulled away and saw the broken look in her sister's eyes. "I could've and that is what really scares me. I feel like a monster for hurting him so badly but it could've been so much worse." She begrudgingly let go of her sister to look at her shaking hands again. "Every time my Semblance activates, I see him. I see Jaune instead of whatever or whoever I'm fighting. I see him in the broken state I forced him into and I just freeze."

Ruby gently took her sisters hands in her own, causing her to look at the reaper in shock. "We'll get through this, Yang."

That shocked her even more, "W-we?"

She nodded, "I'm not going to let you do this on your own, Sis. I can be there for you like you've always been there for me."

"R-ruby, how you okay with this? After everything I've done?"

Ruby gave her a complicated look, "I'm not 'okay' with this. Honestly, I'm not sure _how_ I should feel about all this. But I do know two things though. One, you didn't do this on purpose. You didn't _want_ to hurt him that way. And two, I can see how much this whole thing is hurting you. You honestly don't care what would've happened to you. You care most about what you did to him and you care about him more than yourself."

Yang just looked down and couldn't say another word. She was just so convince that her sister would despise her for what she did. Ruby was so pure and had the straightest moral compass she knew of. That is why she was so afraid to tell her. She didn't want to lose her little sister. "Thank you." She said quietly.

Ruby gave her a weak smile, "No problem." They sat in a silence for a bit before Ruby continued, "Mind if I ask, who was this guy?"

Yang closed her eyes and sighed, "His name is Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Ruby nodded and the two talked more about this whole thing and about Yang's stipulations for attending Beacon. Trying to help her come to terms with everything, even if it was just a tiny bit. As they were doing this Ruby kept thinking of one thing: 'Jaune Arc, huh. I wonder if there's something I can do to help them?'


	4. Reconstruction

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

It had now been three and a half, possibly four months since the semester at Beacon started and Jaune had improved very much with his condition. Ever since his confrontation and crying session with his cousins, a new flame of determination was lit inside him. He would still go to his physical therapy sessions but after them, he would go to a secluded area near the club with Miltia and Melanie to help him train.

Thanks to his physical therapy, his arm was much better. His grip had become stronger and his wrist didn't feel as stiff as before. He had also gained a bit more strength back into it but it still wasn't as good as it was before, it wasn't even up to his left arm. But it was progress, that's what mattered. The problems he couldn't help were that he still couldn't raise his right arm over his head very well and the tremors still went through his arm. They weren't as frequent or strong but they still made things difficult when they showed up. He had dropped many glasses because of it.

His training with the twins was also going well. Since it was impossible for him to use a shield and sword now. They started to develop a new style for him. Miltia started by getting him to use his sword lefthanded. That wasn't too bad, he already knew how to use his sword somewhat with his left arm, he just had to improve on it. Every time they came out to train, his warmups were him going through the basics swordsmanship with his arm. He was able to increase the strength and speed of his swings, not like his right used to be but it was getting there.

Melanie on the other hand was teaching him to work kicks into his fighting patterns. Since he couldn't generate the amount of force he was used to, she felt it would be good for him to not just rely on his blade. The various kicks he would use could keep an opponent at bay and even create openings for him to capitalize on.

Along with that, since he couldn't use his shield to protect himself, they started to teach him evasion and how to dodge attacks. He picked up on that very quickly but his sisters did teach him how to dance so it wasn't that shocking. It now came down to improving on those skills and incorporating them into a reliable style.

And in the two to two and a half months of their training, some of his old skill started to shine through and they started having him fight actual opponents. It would usually be three or four of the men that worked for Junior. The numbers and the fact that he was still getting used to his new style made the fights close. But he was quickly improving to the point where he was going to start sparring with Melanie or Miltia. But not just yet, they didn't want to push him too far, as much as he said he was ready for it.

Today was another one of those days. Jaune had finished his training and had, for the first time, fought against five of Junior's men and won. It was because of that, that the twins had finally agreed to be the ones to spar with him from now on. Which had made him very happy.

He was currently in the shower in their apartment, washing away the sweat and dirt from his training today. He sighed in content as he just let the hot water run down himself, letting him relax a little bit more. He eventually shut off the water and grabbed his towel. He dried himself off and threw on his underwear, jeans and a black t-shirt. He dried off his hair before he put his towel down and grabbed the last part of his wardrobe. It was a specialized compression sleeve. It covered from his fingertips all the way to his shoulder of his right arm. He didn't know if it was legitimately helping or if it was just a placebo, but it seemed to help with the tremors. So he had taken to wearing it almost all the time.

With that, he hung up his towel to dry and walked into the living room. Sitting there on the couch were the twins, who had showered and dressed before him. They weren't in their dresses but their usual lazy clothing. Melanie was in a white t-shirt with black short-shorts. They were that way because one leg got torn and she decided to make them even. While Miltia was in a red tank top with regular black shorts. Neither had make-up on to boot.

Made sense. Hei had closed the club for the night. It wasn't the usual day that he would have it closed, which was weird, but when asked, he would just say he needed to pick something up. Plus, with all the training his men and girls were putting Jaune through, they deserved the night off.

Which was why the twins were lounging on the couch, watching a terrible tv drama while stuffing their faces with ice cream. The two were currently laughing at the horrible tv show and missed him walking into the kitchen behind them. He went to the fridge to grab a can of soda and walked into the living room, with neither of the girls taking notice of him.

He was about to open his can when he got a devious idea and smirked. He walked behind the couch and stuck the cold can against Miltia's neck. She instantly when rigid from the cold metal and jumped up from the couch with shriek. That caused her sister to flinched away in shock and Jaune to start laughing at her reaction.

She instantly whipped around and glared at him, "Jaune, what the hell?!"

Jaune just smirked and popped his can of soda. He just smirked at her, "I thought it'd be funny." He took a sip from the can, "And I was right."

She just glared at him with her fingers clenching, like she wanted to choke him, "Don't make me hurt you."

Jaune gave a faux gasp, "You would hurt your sweet and injured cousin? For shame, Miltia. What happened to the sweet cousin that would ask me to braid her hair when she was a kid?"

That caused the red themed twin to blush, "I was like eight at the time! Why are you bringing it up now!?"

Jaune decided to turn from her to Melanie, "What ever happened to the sweet, little cherry that used to be your sister?"

Melanie just shrugged, "No idea. Guess she soured when we weren't looking." She said with her own smirk.

Miltia just glanced between her sister and her cousin with an angry and annoyed look. She then stomped her foot and stormed out of the room, "You. Both. Suck!"

Jaune watched her leave before he walked around the couch to sit next to Melanie, "I kinda feel bad now. Didn't mean to push her that far."

Melanie just shrugged, "Don't worry about it. She's been in a mood all day. You know how she can get."

He just nodded and picked up the remote in front of him, "Mind if I change it to something less terrible?"

She nodded, "Go ahead. We only watch it because it's so bad, it's funny."

With that, he just started to channel surf. Trying to find something that would catch his attention. He eventually came across a famous si-fi/action movie. He glanced over to Melanie, who was giving him a pleading look since it was one of her favorite movies. He just gave her a small grin and turned the volume up a bit before putting down the remote. She hugged him before settling back down and stuffing more ice cream into her mouth as she got lost in the action.

Before Jaune did the same, he picked Miltia's ice cream to put it back in the freezer so it didn't melt. He walked back in with two more sodas, one for Melanie and the other for Miltia, when she decided to reemerge. The two had probably been watching the movie for forty minutes or so and Jaune turned to his cousin, "Think everything is alright with her? She's never gone this long."

Melanie just shrugged, still watching the movie with undivided attention. Her ice cream finished long ago. "She's fine. She's a big girl."

Before he could respond, he felt a hand slide under his shirt and it rub a cold gel on his back. His back arched and he hissed at the cold. He looked over his shoulder to see that Miltia was standing there with a smirk on her face, "Payback." Was all she said as she held up the container in her other hand. Jaune's eyes went wide when he saw it was the extra strength IcyHot that his uncle bought for himself after the Xiao Long incident hurt his neck and upper back. That's when it started to really heat up. Jaune jumped off the couch with a shout. He started to pull his shirt off so he could try to use it to wipe off the gel.

That finally got Melanie to look away from the screen. She raised her eyebrow at Jaune before she looked at her sister and saw the gel. Her eyes widened as Miltia started to scoop up more of the gel, "Your turn, sis." She said evilly.

Melanie stood up and made sure that the couch was between them, "Miltia, you keep that crap away from me." She told her twin sternly.

Her answer was to vault over the couch towards her sister. Melanie jumped over the coffee table to start running away. Miltia was right behind her and was gaining quickly. Melanie had to jump over almost every piece of furniture they had to keep any kind of space between them but she was starting to run out of options.

She quickly jump over the couch and ducked behind it. Miltia ran around the side of it but was stunned when her sister jumped up and tackled her to the ground. The container of gel slid out of her hand and across the ground, luckily not spilling anywhere. Melanie sat on her sister's stomach and pinned her hands above her head. Miltia struggled but couldn't dislodge her. Melanie just smirked down at her trapped her sister before looking across the room, "Oh Jaune, mind helping me out with her?"

Jaune meanwhile had finally managed to get all the gel off his back using his shirt, hoping it wouldn't stain it. He sighed in relief when he heard his cousin and saw the position they were in. He knew exactly what Melanie meant by that and he just smirked evilly. "It would be my pleasure, Mel."

He started to walk over to the two and Miltia's eyes went wide, "No, no! Don't you dare! Jaune, I'm seri-" her words were cut off as she started to laugh hysterically. Jaune was currently mercilessly tickling her armpits and she could do nothing since Melanie had her pinned.

This lasted for a couple of minutes before Jaune stopped. Letting the red themed twin regain her breath in a series of rapid pants. Her eyes were drooping from her exhaustion. He turned to her sister still sitting on her, "I think she's had enough."

She just tilted her head from side to side, weighing her options. "I guess so. Hopefully that'll get her out of her funk."

Jaune smirked, "If not, I have another idea on how to help."

Melanie turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "And what would that idea-hey!" she shouted in shock as Jaune shoved her off Miltia and onto the ground. Next thing she knew, Jaune's left hand clamped around one of her ankles and he started to tickle her foot. She started to laugh just as hysterically as her sister before. "Stop it!" she cried out and tried to kick him with her other leg.

Jaune just managed to get out of the way before he grabbed her other leg, holdng it with her other leg and started to tickle both feet now. Melanie started to laugh even more but tried to crawl away using her arms. Jaune saw this and turned to Miltia, "Mil, mind helping me out?"

Miltia had finally regained her breath and nodded at him. She crawled over to her sister before she sprawled out on her twin's lower back, pinning her to the ground. Melanie kept clawing at the ground but it was futile as her cousin put her into a tickle hell. Eventually, he stopped and she was left panting in exhaustion just like her sister did earlier. "Well, I think you two are even now. So, let's go back to the movie."

The two twins looked at each other before turning back to Jaune, both with a mischievous gleam in their eyes. Miltia spoke up first, "We may be even…"

Melanie continued from there, "But you've gotten off scot-free."

That's when they spoke in unison, "Time for us to get even with you."

Jaune started to sweat before he slowly took a step back as his cousins slowly got to their feet. Luckily, the universe was looking out for him. Because the door opened, revealing Hei to them. He had a briefcase in one hand and a box of takeout in the other. He looked at the three and the room as a whole with a raised eyebrow before he sighed and looked down, shaking his head slightly. "Why is it that every time I leave, you three start to behave like children?"

The three looked away sheepishly and he just walked in to place the food onto the coffee table. He then sat back into his chair and gently set the briefcase beside him. As Miltia and Melanie started to get the food out, after Miltia picked up her adopted father's IcyHot. Jaune was pulling his shirt back on before he looked over to his Uncle, "So where did you head off to, Uncle?"

"Besides getting us dinner, I had ordered something straight from Atlas. It finally showed up." He reached to his side and picked up the briefcase and held it out to Jaune, "I actually got it for you."

"For me?" he asked confused. He took it and sat down on the couch. He laid it on his lap before he opened it revealing what looked like a silver and black, mechanical arm. Most of it was silver but the joints of the arm were black as well as the inner portion of the forearm and upper arm. He just looked down in shock, just trying to wrap his mind around this. He then turned back to Hei, "You got me an Atlesian prosthetic?"

His Uncle just shook his head, "That is an Atlesian brace." At Jaune's confusion, he explained. "The prosthetics are for people who have lost limbs or that are beyond repair. Put some people, similar to yourself, who have damaged their limb to a certain degree don't exactly fit into that category. People would have to be insane to willingly replace their limbs at a drop of a hat."

He motioned to the case, "That's where these braces come in. They are made to not only to protect but to help strengthen the limb and allow the person to use it just as well as their original. Honestly, these braces were what the current prosthetics were based off of. They are still improved onto this day so they aren't obsolete."

Jaune just stared at the brace as the twins looked between the two, not sure on what to say. Jaune eventually took a deep breath, "So, with this, I'll be able to use my arm again. Is that what you're telling me?" He looked back at his Uncle.

Hei didn't say anything at first, thinking about what he would say, "Yes. But it'll take time. The brace needs time to fully sync with the body and aura of the person that it attaches to. It needs to, to be able to work correctly. I've been told that over the next week or so, it'll start synchronizing with you and after that, you'll still have to go through a new form of physical therapy to get used to it."

Jaune just looked back down at the brace and ran his fingers over the cool metal. He started to tear up a bit at this reality. "I can't believe this…Thank you, Uncle. Thank you so much."

He just shook his head, "There's no need for that. It was the least I could do." He added in a sad tone that none of them missed.

"Uncle, what happened to me wasn't-" Jaune started but Hei just shook his head.

"No, Jaune. This _was_ my fault." He leant forward to rest his arms on his knees and looked down at the ground. "Your parents told me repeatedly that this life would get me in trouble. Or worse, it would hurt the people I love. It was because of that, that you were hurt. It's because of _me_ that you're arm got shattered and you lost your chance to go to Beacon." His hands clenched together and he started to shake. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy with emotion. "And over the last few months, I've done less than I should've for you. I'm so, so sorry, Jaune."

Jaune just looked at his uncle close to losing it. He placed his briefcase on the couch next to him before he walked over to try to wrap his uncle in a hug. Junior froze for a second as he felt his nephew hug him. "You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't because of anything you did that led me to getting this injury. It was because of one Huntress-in-training on a power trip. She did this, not you. And you've given me a place to stay, helped me get back on my feet. You've been someone that I've needed to lean on in all the time I've been here. Uncle Hei, you've done more than enough for me and I can't thank you enough."

With those words, Hei hugged his nephew back and he started to let out a few silent tears. The two men just held each other as the twins just stood away from them and smiled at them, happy to see that they were moving past all of this.

Eventually, Hei pulled away from his nephew and gently wiped the tears from his eyes, "Alright, enough of this emotional stuff. You ready to try that brace on because it did cost me a bit."

Jaune nodded before he walked back over to the briefcase. He gently pulled it out of the case and elected to leave his compression sleeve on. He notice that there was a slight gap on the inner forearm and a slightly bigger gap of the inner part of the upper arm. He attentively placed his hand into the forearm and into the hand.

As soon as he did, the two sides of the gap clicked together and he felt the brace tighten around his arm until it was like a secondary, slightly thicker, metal skin. It was tight enough that it wouldn't come loose but not uncomfortably so. Jaune reached for the other half of the bracer and lined it up with his upper arm and shoulder. The brace clicked together like the first half did and tightened until it was comfortable.

Once that was done, he clenched his fist a few times to test it out. He started to bend his elbow and roll his wrist. He then decided to see if it could help with on problem. He slowly started to raise his arm over his head. As it reached the point where it would usually stop, it didn't and he slowly but surely started to raise it fully over his head.

He looked down and looked at the arm in fascination. He then started to grin and looked up happily at his uncle and cousins, "This is going to be fun."

* * *

Currently, Yang was sitting in Professor Goodwitch's office. It was time for one of their usual Anger Management sessions but this one was a bit different. They had gone on a field trip to Forever Fall earlier and things went less than well. And Yang knew that her professor would want to talk about it. But for now, she was sat in a chair on the other side of the professor's desk as Goodwitch was marking papers. She was doing it when Yang had arrived and told Yang she would be done in ten minutes. So, she calmly sat down and let her mind wander a bit.

Her mind went back over the few things that had changed over the last couple months. For one, with Ruby now knowing about what happened and what she was going through, she was now there to help support her older sister if she ever needed it. That made Yang feel better to not have to keep that secret from her sister but to have her as a support as well. Along with that, now that Ruby knew about her sister's nightmares, she seemed super aware of them now. It was now quickly becoming the norm that when she was having a nightmare, she would quickly be awoken by Ruby gently shaking her shoulder. After that, Yang would hug her little sister for a couple of minutes to help comfort herself. She would then thank her and the two would return to their beds and fall asleep.

Ruby eventually convinced her to tell her teammates about everything. Although, Yang wasn't completely convince that was a good idea. But she trusted her sister and went along with it. After she had told them she was expecting the worse. She was stunned when Blake just thanked her for telling them and told her it didn't change anything. Even saying she knew what its like to try to make up for your mistakes. That made her curious but she decided not to dig, she knew her partner was private and would just annoy her.

Weiss on the other hand had a very conflicted look before she left their room for a while. That made Yang's heart sink a bit but she wasn't all that shocked if she was honest. Ruby left shortly after to talk to her partner while Blake just tried to comfort her own partner. The two eventually came back and Weiss eventually told he that she did not agree with her actions but she would give her the benefit of the doubt since she was trying to better herself.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Goodwitch cleared her throat. Yang turned back to her and Goodwitch had her hands interlocked on the top of her desk, "Thank you for your patience, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang just shrugged a bit, "It's no problem, Miss Goodwitch."

She just nodded, "Now let's get started." She picked up a pen and a clipboard so she could take down notes, like she usually would. "Let's talk about what happened at Forever Fall. No point in us avoiding the Goliath in the room."

Yang sighed and nodded, "Alright, where should I begin?"

"How about at the beginning. Right after CRDL had broken off from your team and sister team." Goodwitch said. The sister team she spoke of was the team across the hall from them, consisting of Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. They used to be a full four person team but their last member, and Pyrrha's partner, had quit nearly a month ago. The guy just couldn't take the pressure of being THE Pyrrha Nikos' partner. But the two teams had gotten close and they were all friends.

"Well, the seven of us walked off and found a nice and peaceful area. So, we decided to collect our sap there and to just relax until we had to go. We all got done and we were just relaxing. Me, Blake and Weiss were just talking and I think Ren was trying to stop Nora from eating all the sap. Pyrrha was standing off by herself just enjoying the peace and Ruby walked up to her to chat. "

Her fist clenched slightly as she started to speak again, "Pyrrha turned to talk to her and as she did, this glass jar flew through the air and missed her. But it smashed into Ruby's head. She cried out in shock and pain, and I just ran to her. She didn't have any cuts from the jar but she had sap all in her eyes. She also seemed out of it from the jar smashing into her."

"I was angry and looked around to see who had done it and that's when I saw Cardin duck behind some bushes and run." She sighed before she continued, "I told Pyrrha and Weiss to look after Ruby and I ran after him."

Goodwitch started to mark a few things down before she looked back up at her, "You've had some altercations with Mr. Winchester before. Did that push you as well?"

That was one word for it. Cardin had asked her out _repeatedly_ since Initiation. She told him 'no' repeatedly but the meathead wouldn't take a hint. If it wasn't for her probation, she would've punched him into the Emerald Forest. Yang nodded, "Yeah, he has been very annoying but I was more focused on the fact he just smashed a jar of sap into my sister's head."

Goodwitch seemed to think this over and nodded, "Good point. Please continue."

"I caught up to him and his team in a nearby clearing and I overheard him saying he missed and got the 'shrimp'." She continued. "I lost it and shouted that he had crossed the line. I could feel my eyes turn red with that and he just looked stunned. As I started to walk closer, he shouted at his teammates to attack me. Sky tried to hit me with an overhead swing from his halberd but I managed to deflect it and punch him to the side. Russel was next and tried to tackle me with is daggers. I caught his arms and kicked him in the chest and away from me. Dove started to fire at me and I used my gauntlets to guard myself. When he stopped to charge at me, I fired a shot and it knocked him away and into the bushes."

Goodwitch started to write more, "Technically, you weren't in the wrong for that. They attacked you first so that would fall under self-defense. Plus, you did only what was necessary." She motioned for her to continue.

"I just kept walking towards Cardin and he pulled out his mace. He ran at me with a shout and tried to bring his mace on top of my head. I blocked it with my arms crossed and I was holding it back but that's when he triggered an explosion on top of me." She rubbed her neck a bit, "That hurt. But I returned the favor by punching him in the chest as hard as I could. He flew into a tree with a scream and dropped his mace."

Goodwitch just had a look of contemplation, "That would still be self-defense. Borderline excessive force but still"

She looked to the side, "I just started to stomp towards him. I was just so angry at him. He had been constantly harassing me, he just hurt my sister and then he tried to blow me up." She took a deep breath, "I wanted to hurt him for all of that. My fist started to shake like crazy and I wanted to just bring it down on him. But as I looked down at his shocked face…I saw Jaune Arc in his place instead."

That got Goodwitch to raise an eyebrow, "Does this happen often?"

Yang looked down and bit her bottom lip slightly, "Mostly when I use my Semblance. I see him and it makes me freeze up. But this was the first time outside of those times it has happened."

Goodwitch started to tap her pen on her clipboard, "We can talk about that in a bit but let's finish this first."

Yang took a deep calming breath, "As I froze there, I heard a roar and I turned to see an Ursa Major charging at us. I quickly shook myself from the shock and charged towards it. It tried for a swipe but I ducked under it and started to slam my fists repeatedly into its chest. The whole time I was just letting my anger and frustration out. It reared back onto its hind legs and and went for an uppercut that ripped the head from its body. It collapsed to the side and the head fell into Cardin's lap a second later." She gave a weak chuckle, "He gave a startled yelped and knocked it off his lap. We just stared at each other for a bit before I took a deep breath and told him to stay away from me and my team." She shrugged, "With that I walked away and back to my friends."

With that all said, Yang looked back up at Goodwitch who was writing on her clipboard. After a minute or so, she gently put her pen down and looked at Yang, "Well, Ms. Xiao Long, I would like to say that you have made significant strides since you first arrived here. You were close to losing control but you were able to redirect your anger towards something else."

Yang gave her a confused look, "I thought I was supposed to learn to control my anger?"

Goodwitch nodded, "You are. But the first step of that is to be able to channel your anger, not being controlled by it. With more work, you will no longer have to have these sessions." That earned a small but no less happy smile from the brawler. "But that doesn't mean we won't be done." Her eyes took on a softer look, "I have acted as a sort of counselor for many students over the years, I would have no problem doing that for you as well."

Yang looked down for few seconds, thinking it all over. A few months ago, before everything had happened, she would've thought she didn't need anyone's help. But now? She knew better. She looked up at Goodwitch, "I would like that."

Goodwitch nodded before she looked down at her scroll, "It's a bit early but I think we can call this session for now. I hope you have a good night."

Yang nodded and stood up and started to walk to the door. She stopped when she heard Goodwitch again, "Oh, by the way, don't worry about Mr. Winchester. I will be sure that he is properly punished for his actions."

That earned a smile from Yang a she walked out of the office. As she was walking to her dorm, she felt a bit lighter than she did before. It was like a weight was off her shoulders. And maybe this would mean things would get better from now on. Too bad she still had something weighing on her soul that would take a lot to get rid of.

* * *

 **A/N- Sorry for the long wait in between updates. For those of you who don't know, I took a break from all my stories to focus and finish DVYL May Cry. With that now done, I have a poll on profile to see what story I should write next. So, feel free to head over there and place your votes, there's still a few weeks left until it close. Anyways, I hope that the wait was worth it and all of you enjoyed the chapter. I will see you all in the next update!**

 **As per usual, Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh was the Beta for this chapter. So, I would appreciate it if you went over and check him out**


	5. Reinforcing

Shattered Dream Broken Soul

It was now getting close to end of the first semester of Beacon and Jaune was in a much better place than where he was just before the semester started. Was he back to being who he was before? No, he doubted he'd ever be the same but that didn't mean he was still broken. It had taken a while but he had come to terms with what happened and had tried to move on from it the best he could. Plus, the Atlesian brace helped with that with the support of his extended family.

He now knew what his Uncle meant by getting used to the brace. The brace gave his right arm more strength than when it was whole, not superhuman levels but it was definitely somewhere close to twice as strong now. The problem was regulating that strength. He lost count of how many glasses and mugs he shattered on accident or how much silverware he bent. Now however he could easily control it like it was second nature. Much to his cousins' annoyance.

With him training with those two at an increased rate, he was getting closer and closer to completely mastering his new style of combat. The increased rate they trained was half because Jaune wanted to push himself and because the twins were getting competitive and didn't want to lose to their cousin. It was getting more difficult for them since Jaune was starting to get a better grip on their own fighting styles and their weaknesses. Which he was exploiting more often.

On top of that, with his brace and right arm in functioning condition because of it, Jaune now had the ability to fall back on his older style if the need arose. And with the added strength, his sword swing with the brace packed more of a punch than ever before. So Jaune could be a storm of blades that was nearly impossible to hit or an immovable wall that would crush his foe when the time was right. It made him a difficult foe to deal with. But under their annoyance of Jaune beating them, Miltia and Melanie were proud of Jaune coming so far so quickly.

Along with that, he had been focusing on his aura control. He could easily focus his aura to any part of his body easily and even multiple parts with a little more focus. He had also been trying to manifest his Semblance but he was having absolutely no luck with it. But he knew that for some people, it could take a good portion of their life to figure out. Some never found their Semblance. So as much as it annoyed him, he told himself to not linger on it.

Instead, he started to figure out on creating aura slashes and shockwaves. It was a difficult technique to learn but it would help him get more range to his fighting styles. He was close but he was having difficulty trying to get the timing right. He kept releasing his aura too early or late into the swing and that made the attacks miss his target terribly. But he wasn't going to give up anytime soon.

Currently, Jaune was walking through Vale as the sun started to set in the distance. He loved to take these late day strolls, even when he was back home. It was always nice to get a small break from his big family to have some peace and quiet. He loved to do this in Vale since the Kingdom would look beautiful in the sunset before it would glow with the lights of its night life. And doing this would mean that the twins wouldn't try to drag him away somewhere to avoid work.

He was currently wearing his usual outfit of boots, blue jeans and black t-shirt. He had his usual compression sleeve on his right arm with his brace over it, which was pretty much natural for him to have on at most times he was awke. A new piece to his wardrobe was a red jacket with black pin-stripes going up the sleeves and trim around the end of the sleeves, bottom and collar, a gift from his uncle's workers for getting back on his feet. It was Huntsmen made so it was very durable and he was definitely thinking of adding it to his Huntsman gear but he really didn't want to damage it.

As he was deep in thought, he missed the rampant footsteps coming towards him. Next thing he knew, someone had run into his chest. Both gave a surprised yelp and both fell backwards. Jaune managed to get his foot behind him so he didn't collapse but the other person fell backwards and onto their behind. At that, Jaune looked down to see who ran into him and saw a young woman his age recovering on the ground. She had long black hair with a black bow on the top of her hair. But what got his attention were the amber eyes she had.

He quickly shook himself before she could catch him staring at her. He reached out with his right hand, "Are you alright?"

The girl shook herself and looked at Jaune before his hand and just stared in shock at the white metal of his hand. Jaune noticed this and cursed slightly inside, he forgot some people were a bit put off by his brace. He put his hand down and reached out with the other. Guess that made her realize she was staring because she looked sheepish as she took his hand, "Thanks."

Jaune helped haul her up and onto her feet, "No problem. I should've been more mindful of my surroundings."

When she was on her feet she took her hand away, "It's alright. I should've been looking where I was going?"

Jaune just shrugged, "Guess we're both at fault then." He gave her a small smile, "I'm Jaune, by the way."

She nodded, "Blake." She responded as she was looking around.

Jaune noticed that and saw she looked panicked. He probably shouldn't do this but he couldn't stop himself, "Are you okay? You seem frazzled."

Her eyes snapped over to him before she took a breath to calm down. She then spoke calmly, "I'm fine. I'm just trying to…avoid some people."

Jaune nodded and got an idea, "Well, there is a small café two blocks away. If you want, you could lay low there for a bit. My treat."

She just looked him in the eyes and raised an eyebrow, not exactly trusting him. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Jaune raised his eyebrows in shock before he chuckled, that confused her. "No, no I'm not, never had luck with women. Plus, I don't even know you. I'm just trying to help you out and maybe make up for knocking you down."

Blake just analyzed him for a few seconds. Trying to see if he was telling the truth and after those seconds, she could not find a hint of him lying. "I appreciate the offer but I'm not really that-" Before she could even finish her sentence, her stomach gave off a loud growl. She quickly placed her hands on her stomach, her cool persona effectively shattered.

Jaune couldn't help the tiny grin stretching across his lips, "Not hungry?" he asked. Her response was to try to keep her face neutral but her cheeks gained a light pink dusting. He just waved her on with his hand, "Come on. All you have to do is put up with me for a bit and you get a free meal."

Blake was silent for a few seconds before she nodded embarrassedly. Jaune just gave her a small smile before he started to guide her to the café. Once they got there, they sat down at a booth inside to help her avoid whoever she was trying to. As they sat down they looked over the menus as the waitress took their drink orders. Blake asked for tea while Jaune got a latte. When she came back with their drinks, they gave her their orders and she went off.

After that the two sat in an awkward silence since they ran into each other, literally, five minutes ago. Blake had taken a sip of her tea and that seemed to calm her down just a bit. He also notice that the bow on her head seem to droop just a bit. He just looked at it in confusion and as he did, he saw it twitch slightly as the front door opened. She quickly looked over and her bow drooped again when she visibly relaxed when she didn't recognize who had entered.

Jaune was just thinking, 'What is going on with that? It's acting like ears….Oh. Yeah that makes sense. I've seen a few Faunus do that before.' He stopped staring at the bow on her head before she could possibly catch him and cause an issue. He took his own sip of his latte before he looked out the window not too far away from them. His right index finger was tapping on the table as he did so, trying to figure out what he should say.

Blake heard the sound of metal lightly hitting the table and she looked down. She saw his metal finger tapping repeatedly on the table. She just stared at it for a bit, this was by far the closest she had ever been to someone you had a prosthetic before and with him being around the same age as her, that made it more interesting to her. Interesting in a uneasy way though.

Jaune finally thought of some sort of small talk and turned back to her. That's when he notice she was staring at the table and more specifically, his hand. He stopped his tapping, "It's not gonna bite you if you take your eyes off it."

Her eyes quickly snapped up to his before she looked away in shame. "Sorry." She said lamely.

Jaune just shook his head, "It's no big deal. It probably would've bothered me when I got hurt but now…" he shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me. Plus, it kinda sticks out." He added jokingly.

"Still doesn't make it right." She looked over to him again, "Again, sorry, I've just never met someone with a prosthetic before."

"Well, you still haven't." She raised an eyebrow in confusion. He held up his hand as he explained. "This is an Atlesian brace. It's for people for crippling wounds but still have their limb intact."

Blake just stared at it for a bit. A question slipped out before she knew it, "How long have you had it?" She felt a wave of guilt wash over her with it.

Jaune didn't notice and just answered, "Two months or so. Had the injury for a few months before that."

Blake felt another wave of guilt wash over her, "Sorry."

Jaune shrugged, "No need to apologize. You didn't do it and nothing can be done about it. Just got to move on and adapt." He picked up his mug and took a sip of his coffee, "And I think I've done the second just fine." He said that with a small smile that Blake returned.

Eventually their food came and the two started to eat. Jaune eventually brought up a question,, "Mind if I ask, who you're avoiding?"

That nearly made the girl choke on her tuna salad. She didn't luckily and tried to speak up, "Why would you want to know?"

He shrugged as he ate his panini, "Just want to be prepared. If whoever it is shows up and it turns violent, I want to be ready for a fight."

She shook her head, "It wouldn't and I can handle myself. Besides, I wouldn't want to pull a civilian into a fight."

Jaune chuckled, "Don't you worry your head about me, Blake. I may be a civilian but I have Hunter's training and can handle my own just fine."

That shocked her, "If that's true then why aren't you enrolled…" He eyes landed on his metal hand again, "Oh…That happened around…"

Jaune nodded, "Not long before Beacon started, yup." He looked over to his arm, "I was in no shape to go, so I had to drop out before it ever started." He sighed, "Really sucked but with physical therapy and this baby…" he wiggled his fingers, "I'm pretty much recovered. And I plan on trying to join up next year."

"Why not try sooner? Beacon's semester is finishing up soon." Blake asked as she continued to eat.

"Beacon only accepts applicants when the year starts." He informed her. "Only way to get a chance to enroll otherwise is if a professor recommends me. But I don't know any so I'm out of luck." He swallowed his bite of his sandwich before continuing, "Now, mind answering my question before you ask me another personal question?"

"You noticed, huh?" she asked, caught in her redirection.

"I've had practice with people trying to get out on answering questions." There was a silence and he sighed, "You don't have to tell me but I'll be willing to listen. Besides, you really wouldn't have anything to lose. Honestly, there is little chance of me and you will see each other again unless you make the effort to. So, even if things turn sour between us, you aren't losing anything."

Blake was silent for a bit and going over everything he had said so far. He had a point, a good point. Besides, a part of her didn't really want to bottle this up. She took a deep breath before she resigned herself. "I got into a pretty bad fight with my team. I said something I shouldn't…so I ran."

"So, you're a student at Beacon?" She nodded and he smiled, "Cool, it'll be nice to know one face when I get in." Jaune hesitated before he continued, "That thing you said, by any chance, does it have to do with you being a Faunus?"

He heard a clatter and saw that Blake had dropped her fork and was staring ta him wide eyed. She looked like she was in a panic, "W-what?"

He nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, I guessed." He scratched the back of his head with his left hand, "Your bow twitches and acts very ear-like. And I've seen a few Faunus that do something similar to hide their traits." Her eyes widened more and she slowly panned to the door, "Before you completely freak out, I'm not prejudice." Her eyes snapped back to him and he shrugged, "People are people. I only hate someone for _who_ they are, not _what_ they are."

Blake looked him over, looking for any falsity but like earlier found nothing. She took a steadying breath and took a sip of her tea. She placed the mug down, "Yeah, it had something to do with that. One of my teammates was being very…narrowed minded and I lost it."

"They prejudice?" he asked before taking a sip of his latte.

"Well, she's a Schnee so…" Blake answered.

That nearly made him do a spit take but he managed to avoid that embarrassment. Didn't stop Blake from smirking at him. "Okay, yeah I can see how that could go badly. What's your plan?"

She shrugged, "I need prove of something. The thing that started the whole argument. If I had that, I might be able to get things back to normal? If not…" she shrugged, "I don't know."

That go this attention, "You need information?" She just nodded, "Well, you're in luck." She looked up at him and he just gave her a grin, "I happen to know of the best info broker in Vale." Her eyes widened as he kept going, "Depending on what you're looking for, I'm sure I could get the information for you."

"You're serious?" he nodded at her with that same smile. "Why would you do this for me? We just met each other."

He shrugged, "Honestly, I want to be Huntsman to help people and to live up to my family's name." His face grew sullen at that before she shook his head. "Point is, since being in Vale, this is the first time I can help somebody. Really help them. Besides, I will eventually see you at Beacon and it would be nice to have you as a friend." He smiled, "And maybe if I do this favor for you, down the line you might do the same for me." he added jokingly.

She just stared at him. This was just someone she just randomly met on the streets and he was already willing to do so much for her. Even after he had found out she was a Faunus. That made a smile stretch across her face. A real one. "Thank you, Jaune."

He just scratched the back of his head, "So, what were you looking for?"

She looked down, "You've heard about all the Dust robberies?" He just raised an eyebrow, "Right, of course you have. Well, do you think you get information on where these people might strike next?"

Jaune's other eyebrow rose to meet the other, "Possibly. What will you do with this information when you get it?"

"Try to catch whoever is doing this and bring them to justice." She said in determination.

Jaune just stared at her for a bit, "That sounds incredibly dangerous. Why not just call the cops in for this?"

Blake quickly came up with an answer, "If I'm wrong and they show up to nothing, it'll just cause problems in the long run. But if I know for sure they're there, it'll work out."

Jaune just looked at her with his finger tapping again. He could easily tell she was lying about that part. He could tell that she had little intention of calling the police regardless. This girl was going to get involved in this, with or without the information he could possibly get her. Either way was dangerous for her but if he got her the information before she did anything crazy and/or stupid, he might be able to make it just slightly less so. Plus, he did say he could do it and he couldn't go back on his word. He was still an Arc after all.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do." At that point, the waitress came by and took his plate since he was done. Blake was still eating however and left the bill as well. Jaune pulled out the necessary amount of Lien plus tip and left it on the table as he stood up. "If we're lucky, I can get the information by the end of the weekend. Why don't we meet back here on Sunday around three o' clock?"

Blake had quickly finished the last bit of her food and stood up, "That'll work and I'll pay then." She said with a small smile.

That got a chuckle out of him. They went outside and they saw that the sun had completely set. Jaune turned back to his companion, "Not to sound weird but do you have anywhere to stay?"

Blake looked at him while she spoke, "There is a small hotel not too far away. There should be a room available there. Don't worry."

Jaune nodded, "Want me to escort you there?" She raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, sorry. My parent's raised me old fashioned. Still hard to shake that off."

Blake playfully rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about it. So, I'll meet you back here in a couple days, Jaune."

He nodded with a smile, "See you then, Blake." The two turned away and walked in two different directions. Blake to her hotel and Jaune back to his uncle's club. He had a favor to ask him for.

* * *

Jaune was currently making his way back to the café he was planning to meet Blake at. Over the last couple of days, he had convinced his Uncle Hei to look into potential Dust robberies. That earned him a series of questions that Jaune had to answer. So he told him about Blake and how she was hoping this information would help patch things up with her team.

Hei wasn't completely okay with his nephew sticking his neck out for a practical stranger. But he knew his heart was in the right place and knew he was too stubborn. So, he went through his contacts to look out for any leads.

Th next day, Melanie and Miltia had found out about what he was doing and they made his workout and training hellish. After that, they made him fight a two-on-one against them. It was difficult but that gave him some more battle experience on switching between his two styles more effectively. He didn't hold it against them, they were worried for his safety and showing it in their own weird way. Honestly, he appreciated it.

When the morning came along, Hei had told him of the most likely target for the thieves would probably be a Schnee freighter coming in later in the day. With that, Jaune gathered his stuff and had Crocea Mors now hanging from his hip. As the time was getting closer to when he was supposed to meet Blake, he said goodbye to his three family members and left.

It didn't take him long to get there and standing in front of the building was Blake. He raised his hand, "Blake. Sorry, have you been waiting long?"

Blake turned to him with a small smile and shook her head, "Not really. Maybe five minutes at most." She then grew serious, "Did you get any information?"

He nodded, "Yes I did. But let's get inside and grab a bite. I really have had anything to eat today."

She nodded and they both walked into the café. Instead of sitting in the building, they went out onto a second floor balcony. It was a very nice day out and it would be nice to enjoy it a little. They ordered their drinks, the exact same from last time. The two enjoyed relatively peaceful silence until Blake broke it. "So, what did you manage to find?"

Jaune was in the middle of taking a sip from his coffee. Once he was done he placed his coffee down, "Me? I found nothing. But the guy I know did." He finished with a smirk.

Blake just gave him a deadpanned expression, "Really?"

Jaune shrugged, "Pretty much, yeah."

She sighed, "I thought you were being serious."

"I am being serious, that's why I'm not just handing the information over immediately." He told her seriously.

Blake just looked him in the eyes, "What do you mean?"

Jaune sighed, "You have a stake in this and not just with your team." He said cutting her off before she could try to add the latter. "Whatever that reason, it is important to you. I want to know what it is because depending on that, I'll decide whether or not to give you this information."

Blake just narrowed her eyes, "That is none of your business, if I'm being completely honest."

Jaune shrugged, "Fine, if that's how you feel, you can leave whenever you like. I'm not going to make you stay."

Blake just stared at him with her hands intertwined on the table. Meanwhile, Jaune just sat back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. Their eyes never drifted from the other, both waiting for the other to crack. But luckily for Jaune, he knew how to hold his ground against stubborn women, thanks to his family. She eventually caved with a sigh, "Why does this matter so much to you? You barely know me."

Jaune just sighed as he slipped his right arm out of his jacket. Blake's eyes widened as she saw that the brace covered his entire right arm. "I trained for ten years to be ready for Beacon. But even with all that, my entire arm was shattered and I've had to work to get back to where I was before. I will always have to carry this with me now."

He slid his arm back into his jacket, "Yeah, you're skilled. You have to be since you're at Beacon. But that doesn't mean you're invincible. Whatever you're planning could go horribly wrong and you could end up in a shape similar to myself. Or worse. I guess, I just don't want you to wind up like I did. Especially, if I have the chance to prevent it."

Blake just took this all in and took a deep breath. He made a good point and he was trying to look out for her. She couldn't fault him for doing what he felt was right. Hell, she did the exact same thing in the White Fang. "People are thinking it's the White Fang that is committing the robberies. I don't think that's true. I want to prove their innocence."

Jaune just looked at her, "Sorry to say this but I wouldn't actually call the White Fang 'innocent'." She just glared at him and he shrugged, "Most people see them as terrorists now. Humans and Faunus both. You can't really be a group for Faunus right's when a good portion of the Faunus themselves don't see them as it anymore."

Blake eventually gave him that and continued. That's when she told him the truth: She was a member of the White Fang and everything that it entailed. Jaune meanwhile was just shocked at first but listened to her intently. And as he did, he was starting to understand her motives more and more. Now it came time for him to come up with his decision.

After she was done, he took another sip of his cooling latte. "I can see your point and I understand. But before I make my decision, I want you to answer one thing for me, okay?" Blake looked at him and slowly nodded, "If you find out that it is the White Fang, what will you do?"

Blake just looked at him for a bit before she looked down. She was in thought for a while before she answered, "I-I'm not sure. I guess I'm just hoping it won't be."

Jaune nodded, "Okay. In that case. I'm coming with you."

Her head snapped up to him in shock, "What?"

He nodded, "You heard me. The information and me are a package deal. So, what do you say?"

* * *

 **A/N- Beta Reader for this was my good friend Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh but most of you know that by now. Go check him out.**


	6. Reconditioning

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Jaune was making his way to the docks to meet up with Blake. The Faunus in hiding had very reluctantly agreed to Jaune joining her. She didn't want to get him, someone she barely knew, into her mission. But the information he had was invaluable. So, after they had their meal, the two made their way to the docks where Blake quickly found a suitable roof for them to observe it from. After a few hours, the sun had set and the two were left to watching the near abandoned docks.

Jaune was heading back now after he left briefly to grab something for them to eat, which explained the paper bag in his left hand. As he was approaching the docks, he kept his eyes opened in case anyone was watching him and to see if there were any suspicious characters around. When he was sure the coast was clear, he walked into the alley next to the building. He kicked off the wall to his left before kicking off the opposite wall to get higher into the air. His right arm grabbed the edge of the roof and he used his brace to pull himself up effortlessly.

Once he was on the roof, he started to walk over to Blake who was laying on the roof on her stomach. "I'm back." He said in a low voice. "I'm guessing nothing happened while I was gone."

Blake shook her head and looked over to him, "No. They unloaded the Dust but now it's just sitting there. No one has shown up since."

Jaune nodded and laid down next to her and started to go through his bag. He pulled out two sandwiches and handed one to Blake. She looked at it with a raised eyebrow. "It's tuna. You seemed to enjoy it the other day."

She took the wrapped sandwich and opened it. "At least you didn't say it was because of my ears. That is always annoying."

Jaune was chewing a bite from his chicken salad, "Well, to be honest, I didn't know what kind of Faunus you were. I wasn't going to ask either. But now I'd have to guess you're a cat Faunus?" He looked over to her with the question.

She nodded without taking her eyes off the docks and slowly eating her sandwich. She eventually turned back to him and saw he was giving her an analytical stare. "What?" she asked, slightly unnerved by it.

He just shrugged, "Just trying to picture you with cat ears." He tilted his head slightly, "Honestly, not much of a change from the bow. Although, I bet they would look cuter." He then turned back to the docks.

Blake just kept looking at him though, "Some Faunus would see that as offensive."

"Why? What's wrong with saying cat ears would look cute?" He asked as he looked back to her.

"It just sounds degrading." She said simply.

"That makes absolutely no sense." She turned back to Jaune. "Would it be degrading if I said you had a cute smile?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, "No. Maybe embarrassing but no."

"What if I complimented your eyes? Or your hair? Or, I don't know, if you giggled? Would that be offensive?"

"No…" Blake said, not sure on where this was heading.

"So, if you aren't offended by me saying those things, why would you be if it was about your ears? I mean, their just another part of you, right?"

Blake just stared at him for a bit and opened her mouth to answer. But no sound came out. She sat there for a bit as Jaune looked at her expectantly. She eventually sighed, "It's complicated."

"See in my experience, people say that when they don't have an answer." He said with a grin. Blake gave him a mild glare. He just raised his hands, "Look it was a comment, you can interpret it however you like. But it sounds just as prejudice to jump to a negative conclusion like that if someone makes any kind of comment about your ears. Not everyone is out to subjugate or kill Faunus. Which should speak for itself since I'm sitting on this cold roof with you, waiting for a robbery that may not even happen."

The two fell into a silence after that. Neither really sure what to say. So they just laid there and watched the docks as they ate. Eventually, the guilt built up too much for Blake to take. "Sorry." She said just above a whisper but Jaune heard her because of their close proximity. "I shouldn't have jumped to that kind of conclusion. You are doing a lot for me."

Jaune shrugged, "Don't worry about it. I guess what's under your bow is a sensitive topic, I'll remember that from now on."

Blake fidgeted a bit, "It's not that. It's just I've dealt with a lot of negativity because of them. So, its just reflex to get defensive about them. Honestly, the only good comments I've heard are from fellow Faunus. Never humans."

"Well I guess I'm the first." He said with a small smile, "Although I still haven't seen them yet, so my words probably don't mean much." That earned a small giggle from Blake, "Wow, that's the first laugh I got outta you. I'm on a roll."

Blake playfully rolled her eyes, "Maybe I have a weakness for dorks."

"Ouch, that's how you treat an injured man?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

She gave him a sideways look with the same smirk, "All's fair in love and war."

Jaune rolled onto his back to look at the stars, smirk still there, "And which are we in? Love or war?"

"Jury's out on that." She said simply. They then settled into another bout of silence but this one was more comfortable than the previous one. That lasted for a few minutes until the wind picked up, severely. Jaune quickly rolled over onto his stomach as the two watched as a bullhead started to settle down in the middle of the docks. It opened out and several White Fang members slowly walked out, armed and ready. "Oh no." Blake said out loud.

Jaune looked over to her, "So, it's them, isn't it?"

Blake nodded sadly, "Yeah. It's them."

"I'm sorry, Blake." Jaune said immediately. "I know how much you were hoping it wasn't."

"No, I think I did. Somewhere deep down. I was just hoping we were wrong." she responded.

Jaune just looked at her a bit, not sure on how to make her feel better. Eventually he pulled out his scroll and switched it to its camera mode. "I'll take a few pictures for the police. That way, they may be able to better prepare." Blake didn't argue and just nodded.

He took the next few minutes to take pictures of the White Fang, the bullhead and them grabbing the Dust. He was about to close it when he heard someone shout from the bullhead. He quickly focused on it and was prepared to take pictures of whoever else was on it, maybe the leader. Who stepped out caused both Jaune and Blake to freeze, "No way. Roman Torchwick? He's behind this?"

"This isn't right." Blake said as she stood up, "The White Fang wouldn't work with a human. Least of all, one like that." Before he could stop her, she drew her sword and jumped off the roof.

"Blake! Damn it." Jaune quickly took a few more pictures of Roman with the White Fang before he pocketed his scroll. He then stood up and leapt from the roof, using his aura to push himself further and landing on one of the many containers that were stacked there. He ran across the top of them and slid to a stop just at the edge to see what was going on down below.

He quickly took in the situation. Blake had Roman at sword point while the two were surrounded by White Fang, all aiming their weapons at them. He also notice that Blake was no longer wearing her bow but he had no time to focus on that. Two more bullheads flew in at that moment and with her distracted, Torchwick fired a shot at their feet, sending Blake flying backwards.

Jaune quickly jumped off the container and between Blake and Roman as he fired several more shots at them. Jaune quickly deployed Crocea Mors' shield with his sword still sheathed as he tanked the shots. Blake quickly stood up and had the angriest look on her face. "He's mine!" she snarled and tried to rush him. Jaune put a stop to that by grabbing the back of her shirt with his brace before pulling her and himself behind a container. Specifically one with the SDC logo on it to stop them from carelessly firing at them, unless they wanted to cause the mother of all explosions.

Once they were safely behind it, Jaune pushed Blake back first against it. He placed his forearm against the space between her neck and chest to keep her from moving. That didn't stop her from thrashing around, "Let me go! We can't let them get away!"

"Calm. Down." Jaune all but commanded in a cold voice that made Blake look into his eyes. And she was shocked to see how steely they are. "We are severely outnumbered. And even if we don't know if those White Fang have aura, Torchwick has Hunter-level training. On top of that, one wayward shot and this entire dock could go off from all the Dust here. The only way we get out of this, is to do this smart and for you to calm down. Alright?"

Blake just stared at Jaune before she took a deep breath. He was right and her anger was only going to hinder her in this situation. She exhaled and nodded to him, "You're right. Thanks."

Jaune let her go and nodded, "You're welcome." He slowly walked over to the corner of the container and looked around it to see if he could see the White Fang, which he could see them slowly making their way to them. "If I draw their attention, can you get Torchwick from behind?"

Blake nodded, "Stealth is my forte. But will you be able to take them on by yourself?"

Jaune condensed his shield back into a sheathe and attached it to the left side of his belt. He grabbed his sword with his left hand and drew it in a reverse grip. He gave her a confident smirk, "Trust me, I can deal with multiple foes at once." He looked back around the corner. "I'll back you up once I can."

He felt a hand gently lay on his left shoulder. It gently squeezed, "Be careful."

Jaune chuckled, "Don't worry. I'm not going down until I make it to Beacon." With those words, he took off around the corner and towards the White Fang. There were eight in total and five of them had guns, which began to fire on him. Jaune quickly started to weave through as many as possible while others he would deflect with his sword still in a reverse grip, striking as quick a serpent.

Once he was too close to properly dodge the rounds, he launched himself forward with another burst of aura at the lead gunman. He knocked the rifle to the side with his right arm and used the momentum to spin to deliver a downward slash with his sword. Luckily, the Faunus had aura or he'd be dead. The gunman was thrown back and Jaune continued with the momentum to keep spinning and deliver a kick to the next Faunus' neck on his right.

As soon as his foot was back on the ground, Jaune pulled up his left arm to catch the sword of the leftmost White Fang by having his sword against his forearm. As he was trying to overpower him, Jaune pulled back his right fist and slammed it into their chest, sending him flying backwards and probably unconscious. That's when another White Fang tried to slash at Jaune with their own blade but Jaune caught it without difficulty with his right hand. Jaune flipped his sword to hold it the standard way and delivered two fast slashes across the Faunus chest before he kicked him in the same place to send him back.

Two more tried to rush him, each with a pistol and a sword. Jaune caught their blades with his right hand and blade. Just before they could fire, Jaune planted each of his feet into their chest and kicked off them. He realized he was on direct route to another one, so he twisted in the air to plant both feet into their chest and drove them into the ground. They gave a gasp of pain before the toe of Jaune's boot impacted the side of their head, knocking them out. Jaune shot forward again and grabbed one of the previous two's guns so they couldn't fire. That's when the pommel of Jaune's sword met their forehead, knocking them out cold.

Jaunt grabbed their unconscious body and threw it at the other on his left. That caused the two to fall to the ground. That left only one White Fang standing and the two quickly got into a sword fight, this one being more skilled then the others. Jaune went for an upward slash but they quickly jumped back. They then closed the distance for a horizontal slash for Jaune's head. He quickly ducked under it and delivered an uppercut to their chin. They were thrown into the air and landed, out like a light.

Jaune quickly turned to see Blake engaged with Torchwick but she was not fairing well against him. Jaune quickly took off towards them. His cane was clashing easily with Blake's blades and she was knocked away when he punched her straight to the jaw. Jaune leapt into the air and came down with an axe kick. Torchwick saw this and quickly raised his cane to catch it but had to use both arms to hold it off.

Jaune quickly kicked off his cane with his other foot and Blake closed the distance with a series of slashes that Torchwick was able to parry. Jaune landed on his feet and quickly tossed his blade to his right arm. He then charged forward and applied all his enhanced strength to one over the shoulder slash. Blake saw this and took another hit but to Torchwick's shock, she vanished. Leaving Jaune coming in for his swing. Torchwick barely managed to block the sword with his cane but the force behind it caused him to slide backwards before tumbling across the ground.

He slowly got back to his feet as Blake stood beside Jaune once again. The infamous thief looked up and quickly fired his weapon. The shot hit a suspended container and caused it to fall towards them. "I got it!" Jaune shouted as he channeled aura into his blade, he may not have mastered the technique but he didn't need to against such a huge target. With a swing and shout, he released his aura slash. Because it was imperfected, the attack didn't cleave the container in two but it did go through it partially. That caused it to explode and luckily, most of the debris was launched away from them.

Jaune couldn't relax because that was when Blake started to fire at Torchwick with her own gun. The master criminal was able to deflect or maneuver away from most of the shots before he managed to get another shot off directly at them. Jaune managed to swing his blade and catch it with the broadside to send it flying harmlessly into the water.

That's when another volley of bullets came at Torchwick but not from Blake's weapon. Both teenagers looked back to see a shorter girl in a red cape firingt a him with a rifle with an orange haired girl just behind her. The caped riflewoman then shouted, "Get away from Blake!"

"I take it you know her?" Jaune asked the Faunus.

She just nodded, "That would be my Team Leader." That's when another of Roman's shots screeched through the air and slammed into the building she was on. "Ruby!" Blake shouted in fear.

"Go, check on her. I'll deal with him." Jaune said with an edge to his voice. Blake couldn't argue as Jaune charged the criminal. The two's weapons clashed repeatedly, sending sparks flying. This time Torchwick knew the strength Jaune had at his disposal, so he was deflecting them not trying to block them. That's when Jaune switched arms to try to outmaneuver him instead of overpowering him.

Eventually, Torchwick manage to hook his cane around the crossgaurd of Jaune's sword and use the leverage to impale the sword into the ground. With that distraction, Roman connected a knee to Jaune's face making him let go of his blade. He then received a cane to his stomach, sending him skidding back. He looked up to see Roman level his weapon at his face. The conman then smirked, "Some knight in shining armor you turned out to be."

He fired and Jaune quickly deployed his shield again to stop it. As the smoke covered him, he grabbed the side of his shield and threw it with all the strength he could with his brace. Torchwick's eye widened in fear at the spinning shield that erupted from the smoke. He quickly jumped to the side and the shield impacted the container behind him, stuck halfway through the reinforced metal. Torchwick just stared at that for a second and let that sink in a bit.

He quickly turned back when Jaune started to run at him. Roman couldn't raise his weapon in time to stop it and the metallic fist buried itself into his stomach, knocking the air from him. With a shout, Jaune finished his swing and sent Vale's most wanted into the container behind him and shattering his orange aura. The criminal groaned and looked up to seeing Jaune looming over him with his sword back in hand. He pointed the blade right at his nose, "I'm no knight and this is no fairy tale."

That would've ended the whole crime spree right there, if three more bullheads didn't show up and were effortlessly taken out of the air by the orange haired girl from earlier. That distracted him enough for Roman to point Melodic Cudgel at him and fire. The shot slammed into his chest, sending Jaune flying backwards. He slammed into the ground back first and Jaune's world turned white.

The world soon returned to color and the ringing in his ears slowly faded. He looked around disoriented and slowly tried to sit up, his chest and head aching from the shot and the ground respectively. Even with aura, that had hurt. He started to massage his chest with his left hand as a groan escaped him. He didn't see Torchwick anywhere so he had to assume he escaped, which earned a mental curse from the blonde.

"Jaune! Are you okay!?" he heard someone yell and he turned to see Blake kneeling beside him and looking over him in concern.

Jaune gave her a half smile, "Don't take one of those to the chest. Just thought you'd ought to know."

She sighed, half in relief and half in resignation, "Yeah, you're all right." She then proceeded to help him back to his feet. She hovered close by in case he got lightheaded. When he looked like he would be fine she stepped out of his personal bubble.

"How's you leader?" he asked her as he went to go reclaim his shield.

Blake was following right behind him, "She's fine. The shot hit the roof, not her. So it took the blunt of the damage."

Jaune nodded, "That's good to hear. Don't need two injured people." He then grabbed the edge of his shield and pulled it free from the container with his right arm. He collapsed it down before he sheathed his sword and reattached it to his belt. That's when they heard the sirens, "Great. Now the cops show up." He sighed in exhaustion, annoyance and resignation.

Not long after that, Vale's police, paramedics and fire department showed up to see what had happened. The police were quickly detaining the White Fang that were there and had questions for the four teenagers that had fought them. Two detectives pulled Penny to the side to get her statement while Jaune was ushered over to the paramedics by Blake. They checked him over and he was fine besides some bruising.

When they were done, the officers asked them to stay put and they would get their statements soon since they were now doing Ruby's. There were a few crates nearby and they sat down on them. They sat in silence, a soon to be common recurrence. "Thank you." Blake said out of nowhere.

Jaune just shrugged, "It's no big deal."

She looked at him incredulously, "Jaune, you helped me find information about this, stopped me from going berserk, fought the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. That _is_ a big deal."

Jaune just looked at her with a small grin, "Maybe but it made for good practice for Beacon. And that's what friends do for each other, right?"

"Friends?" she asked stunned.

Jaune nodded, "After everything we just went through, it would be weird if we weren't. Plus, I like hanging out with you. Even if that got me into a fight with a master criminal." He said with a smirk, "Besides, it would be nice to have a friend waiting for me at Beacon."

Blake just looked at him before she had a tiny smile, "I would like that too." She then pulled out her scroll, "Mind if I get you contact information? I'd like to be able to talk or even hang out. That way I don't have to wait another semester to see you again." Jaune pulled out his scroll with a smile and they traded info. When they were done, the detectives escorted Ruby over before they asked for Blake next. She nodded to them and her leader before she followed. Ruby looked at her teammate for a bit before she took a seat on the crate Blake had a few seconds prior.

The two sat there, with the younger girl just looking at Jaune like she was trying to figure out who he was. "So…" Jaune started, "You're Blake's team leader?" He looked over to her as he asked.

She nodded, "Yup." She said awkwardly. Then was another brief pause, "So…you're Blake's friend?"

Jaune nodded with a grin, "Yup. Only known her a couple of days though."

She just nodded and slowly reached her hand out to him, "I'm Ruby."

Jaune shook her hand with his left, trying to avoid and possible awkwardness because of his brace, "Jaune. Nice to meet you."

"Same to you." She said with a small smile, "Thanks for watching out for my teammate by the way."

"Don't mention it. She was in a tight spot and it was the least I could do for her."

She looked nervous for a second, "So you know what happened?"

He tilted his head back and forth, "Not in detail. I just know she got into an argument with her teammate and said something she didn't want to." He looked out over the docks, "Just keep an open mind when she explains everything. Nothing is black and white in this world."

She nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. But I'm not the one that needs to hear that though." She sighed.

"Well hopefully it'll go better with you in her corner now." Jaune said with a smile. Ruby just collapsed backwards onto the crate she was sitting on with a groan and that made Jaune chuckle a bit. His mind started to drift to his own argument the had with his parents and his mood dropped. It had been months and he still hadn't called them again. They had no idea on how much he had improved with his condition and were probably still worried sick. That made him feel incredibly guilty.

"Alright, Kid, you're up." Jaune snapped back to reality when he heard that. The two detectives were back and so was Blake. Jaune just nodded and stood up to follow them. Before he did, he gave Blake a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder. She looked at him and gave him a grateful smile before he followed the detectives.

Jaune then told the police what had happened and how Blake and he fought against the White Fang. Along with Roman Torchwick's involvement. He did leave out the fact that Blake was a Faunus or an ex-White Fang, she didn't need the extra heat. Although he did show them the pictures he had taken just before the fight. With all that, they had enough to arrest the White Fang there and would now have them keep an eye on further Dust shipments.

When they finished up, they said he could leave. Before he did that though, he decided it would be better to say goodbye to Blake first. As he was walking over, he saw that she and Ruby were now talking to two other people, which were probably her teammates. He smiled since the lack of screaming was probably a good sign. He even heard Ruby shout, "Team RWBY is back together!"

That made him chuckle, "Well, that's good to hear." Ruby, Blake and a girl in white turned to him while the last one froze, but he didn't notice that.

The girl in white just looked him over, "And who are you?"

He shrugged, "A friend of Blake's who she met over the weekend. And probably a good reason why these two are didn't get too hurt."

The girl in white looked at him in shock before turning to her teammates, who nodded. She then turned back and cleared her throat, "I'm sorry for my tone." She held her hand out to him, "I'm Weiss Schnee and I'd like to thank you for looking out for them."

Jaune just smiled and shook her hand, with his left again, "It wasn't a problem. Blake is my friend after all." He pulled his hand away, "You can call me-"

"Jaune?" a new but familiar voice spoke up in his stead. He looked over to the last person and he froze as his eyes widened.

Standing there was no other than Yang Xiao Long, staring at him in just as much shock. He felt his heartrate rise and his breathing almost stopped. A phantom pain shot through his arm, something that hadn't happened in months. That shook him from his stupor and he was quickly being overtaken with anger. His eyes narrowed as his right fist clenched tightly, it would've hurt if not for the brace. "Xiao Long." He said in a cold voice but that didn't stop the anger from seeping through.

The three others just looked at the two: Yang looking like she was close to a breakdown and Jaune like he was going to murder someone. Ruby's eyes were wide. She knew instantly who he was after Yang had said his name and was completely out of her depth. Blake made the connection after she remembered his brace. Conflicted didn't even come close to how she was feeling right now. Weiss was the only one still confused, "You two know each other?"

Jaune's eyes didn't move from Yang, "You could say that." He said in just a cold voice.

"Now, now. Let's all take a second to relax." Said another voice. The five turned and were all shocked by the two people who were making their way towards them: Professor Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin. The deputy headmistress had an analytical but stern gaze on all of them. Ozpin just seemed calm as he looked over his students before they landed on Jaune and stayed there.

He gained a small grin as he spoke again, "I think we should all head back to Beacon. You too, Mr. Arc. I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you."

* * *

 **A/N- Don't have much to say on this one. Hope you it was worth the wait and you all enjoyed it!**

 **Beta Reader was the amazing Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh, go check him out.**


	7. Mending

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

The bullhead ride back to Beacon was awkward to say the least. Jaune didn't imagine that at the end of the day, he'd be on a bullhead to Beacon academy with the headmaster and headmistress along with a first-year team of huntresses. On top of that, said team that contained the one and only Yang Xiao Long.

His eyes flicked over to the other end of the bullhead to look at said team and the blonde. She was looking down at the ground, not even trying to look in his general direction, with her hands clasped together in her lap. Although that was probably for the best. He was still shocked by the sheer amount of rage that overcame him as soon as he saw her. He still didn't forgive her for what she had done to him and he knew he still had some anger towards her. But _that_ amount was unsettling. Guess he wasn't as over it as he thought.

His eyes slowly shifted to Yang's right, seeing Ruby gently holding her forearm and whispering things to her. He had no idea what she was saying but it wasn't his business anyway. But with her eyes darting over at him before turning back to the blonde, he had a good idea of the topic she was discussing.

To the left of his current source of anger was Blake. That was a bit more complicated. Her eyes would dart from Yang to him to the floor on repeat. But that made more sense. She just found out her teammate was the one to grievously injured him. A part of him was hoping that didn't cause too much trouble for her now. He may not like Yang but that didn't mean he wanted to create unneeded stress for the Faunus or her team.

His eyes then traveled to the last member, Weiss. Who had her arms crossed and was just staring at him. Not in an offensive way, more analytical. She didn't even react when their separate sets of blue eyes met. She just kept staring him in said eyes, like she was looking into his soul. Like she was trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Or, depending on how much she knew about what Yang did, how all of this happened.

'Not that I can fault her for that, I'm in that same boat.' He thought to himself. 'I mean, what are the odds of me meeting and befriending the teammate of the girl that shattered my arm?'

He turned his eyes away from them and to the two professors. Goodwitch, he thought that was her name, was on her scroll. Most likely starting some much needed paperwork after having two students fighting a notorious criminal and a terrorist group. He considered himself lucky to not be a student, he could only imagine the kind of headache that would be for her and what punishment she would dish out to the ones responsible. Worst she could do to him is give him a slap on the wrist.

His eyes finally panned over to the Headmaster himself, Ozpin. He was sitting there calmingly, just looking over his four students at the end of the bullhead. Slowly his eyes connected with Jaune's. The two just looked at each other before a calming smile touched his lips. That probably would've made him feel better, if he was on edge at all. The Headmaster had no power to punish him even if he wanted to. If he was going to be punished, it would've been by the police but they had let them go. So, he wasn't scared or nervous by the fact that he wanted him to speak to him. More curious than anything.

He turned away from the interior of the bullhead to look out the window and that's when he saw Beacon in all its glory. The lights shining like a literal beacon in the night. Awe overcame him before disappointment. It would be another semester, minimum before he could step foot in that place as a student. He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose before he pressed his forehead against the window. The cold from the glass helping him stay awake from the exhaustion that gripped his body. 'So close but so far away, huh?'

It was only a few minutes later when the bullhead touched down. As soon as it did, Goodwitch stood up and started to make her way to getting off it. RWBY stood up shortly afterwards and Ozpin followed. Not seeing anything else to do, Jaune did the same. He placed his hands in his jacket pockets before he followed the others off the bullhead.

Outside, he saw Goodwitch standing opposite of Ozpin with Team RWBY behind her. Jaune stood a few feet back in the neutral ground as they talked, "Ozpin, I'll go to my office and finalize the paperwork that is needed. What should we do with Team RWBY?" she asked as the mentioned team flinched at her tone.

Ozpin hummed as he looked past his assistant headmistress to the team. He then turned back to her, "Nothing tonight, Glynda. It's late, so let them rest and we can discuss this with Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna in the morning."

The team looked relieved while Goodwitch sighed, "Fine. What about Mr. Arc?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow with that and Ozpin answered, "I want to talk to him briefly. Nothing for you to worry about." The headmaster then turned to him, "Shall we, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune just nodded and the silver haired man started to lead the way to the tower. Before he followed he looked back to RWBY or specifically, Blake. But she was still having a hard time looking at him. She just barely looked up at him and he just gave her a small but caring smile. He then saw Yang raising her head and he barely saw her lilac eyes before he turned his back to her and followed the Headmaster. He missed how full of regret her eyes were and the unshed tears. But truthfully, that was probably be for the best.

As the two walked toward Beacon's tower, Jaune looked around just observing the sights of Beacon. He thought it looked amazing but also wished he could see it in the daylight. Eventually, he found himself in the elevator heading up the tower, presumably to Ozpin's office. When the doors opened once again, Ozpin walked in but instead of going to his desk, went to a coffeemaker on one of the sides. "Please, have a seat, Mr. Arc. Would you like some coffee?"

Jaune just shook himself and slowly made his way to the chair set in front of the desk, "Uh, no thank you, sir. It wouldn't be a good idea to if I want to get any sleep tonight."

That caused the man to chuckle as he turned around with a mug of fresh coffee in one hand. He then started to walk to his desk and sit behind it. "You seem rather calm after everything that has happened. Why is that?"

He just shrugged a bit, "It was fight. An intense one, but a fight all the same. I've trained against my father when I was learning, so I'm no stranger to how intense a fight with a Huntsman can go. Plus, I'm in one piece. Blake came out of it alright, on top of that. Not much to be worried about."

"Indeed." He said as his eyes trailed down to his right hand, still in his jacket pocket. Understanding that look, Jaune pulled his hand out to show Ozpin the silver metal that now surrounded his hand. Ozpin just looked at t for a bit and nodded, "An Atlesian brace I take it."

Jaune nodded and placed his hand on his lap, "Yup. My uncle got it for me not too long ago. It's starting to feel as natural as my arm before my accident."

He nodded, "And you seem pretty close to Miss Belladonna, as well."

"She was in a tough spot and I decided to help her out. Friendships have started in weirder ways but she doesn't strike me as a bad person. So, I'll consider it a win to have her as a friend." He had a small smile before he shook his head, "Not to be rude but what's with the sudden interest in my life, sir?"

Ozpin took a sip form his mug before he placed it on the desk, "You've always been an interest to me, Jaune. At least once I got your transcripts. If not for your… accident, I would have no doubt in my mind that you'd be one of the top students of the first years along with Miss Schnee and Miss Nikos. After I got your letter, I decided to keep an eye on you. Not too close that it would impede your recovery in any way but enough to know how well you were recovering."

Jaune just stared at him for a bit before he nodded, "Okay but why?"

Ozpin linked his fingers and rested his elbows on the desk, "Answer me this question: Why did you send me that letter in the first place?"

Jaune just raised an eyebrow, "Just thought you'd like to know what your potential student was capable of, I guess?"

Ozpin just continued to look at him, "And why did you not condemn, Miss Xiao Long? She ruined your dream and years of hard work. Why not paint her as the villain in your story."

Jaune just looked into the Headmaster's eyes for a bit. He eventually sighed, "I don't forgive her for what she did to me. Hell, I'm still angry for what she did. More than I originally thought apparently." He muttered the last part before resuming, "Yeah, taking her dream away like she did to me would've probably felt good but what would be the point?" He raised his metal hand to eye level and gazed at it, "That wouldn't fix my arm. Make me whole once again. Let me attend Beacon and fulfill my dream."

He lowered his hand as he closed his eyes. He was quiet for a bit before he opened them again, "Do I hate her? I don't know; I've never hated someone before so I guess I wouldn't know. Anger, frustration, depression, emptiness. That's what I feel. But pushing that onto her… wouldn't make anything better. As much as I wish it would sometimes, it wouldn't."

He leant forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he looked past the Headmaster and out the window behind him, "I gave you the information to leave that decision up to you. If she lost her chance to come here than I would get justice and my feelings would be well founded. But, since she is here now, I guess there is a much bigger picture here or something I can't see. So, I guess it was good I didn't let my emotions condemn her. For some reason, I guess."

There was an extended silence. Jaune just kept looking over the view, just sifting through his thoughts and emotions. Ozpin then spoke up, "That is very wise of you, Jaune."

Jaune lowered his head with a huff mixed with a laugh, "Not sure if this is wisdom." He then clenched his hands together, "I just don't want to feel like this anymore."

There was another silence with Ozpin just observing the young man in front of him. He could see just how damaged he felt right now. It pained him to see someone so young deal with so much pain. He wanted to help him through this but with him not being a student, it left his options limited. At least for right now. "Well, what if I could ease some of that pain for you?"

Jaune looked back up to the older man in confusion, "What?" he asked intelligently.

"You still have potential, Jaune, and I would still like to have you as a student here. And sense you seem to be fully recovered, I see no reason why you shouldn't have the chance to be one now."

Jaune's mouth fell open but no words came out. He closed it before he cleared his throat, "But I thought I would needed a professor's recommendation to join Beacon?"

Ozpin just gave him a coy smile, "I believe my recommendation will work just as well as any other, don't you think?"

That was when reality started to catch up to him and his confusion shifted to pure joy. "Thank you, Professor! Thank you so much!"

He nodded, "It is no problem, Mr. Arc. However, even with my recommendation, you still need to pass your test." That caused the blonde to freeze in place. "All the first years needed to pass an Initiation to become students here. You will have to do something similar."

That sobered Jaune up a bit, "Okay. May I ask what this test will be?"

He nodded, "You can. Your test will involve you fighting a first year team."

Jaune just stared at the Headmaster, wide eyed. "How the hell am I supposed to pass that kind of test?" Too shocked to care he wasn't using proper manners. Four on one would be difficult to begin with, but by now they would start getting the beginnings of teamwork in as well. That didn't leave him feeling too confident.

That caused the Headmaster to chuckle, "Not at once, Mr. Arc. That would be a difficult test even for a fourth year. No, you have very large aura reserves as I've come to learn. You will fight the four members of the team in succession, the matches will end when either your or your opponent's aura reach a specific level, not in the red mind you, but a percentage that would be fair to both of you."

Jaune took a second to think about this whole situation. Four fights like that would definitely be better than fighting all four at once but not by much. Not only would he get more exhausted against fresh opponents but they would learn more and more about his fighting style. Meanwhile, he'd have to learn their new styles on the fly. He'd have to try and beat them as quickly as possible but even that wouldn't help in the long run. He'd have to find some way to balance the scales a bit more. Then he got an idea.

He looked back up to the Headmaster, "Alright but on one condition."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, almost like he was amused by it, "A condition?"

Jaune nodded, "I want information on the team you choose. Not much, mind you, just some basics. Weapons, definitely. Semblance, maybe."

Ozpin hummed in thought before he took another sip of his coffee, "That would definitely give you an advantage and could allow you to prepare accordingly. But considering the test, I could allow it. But that would mean I'd have to choose a much tougher team for you to face. And just _how_ will I even begin to explain that?"

Jaune shrugged, "Could say it's a test for the team as well. See how they fight against an opponent that knows so much about them and how to react to that sort of situation. Think on their feet and all."

That caused him to chuckle, "Very clever, Mr. Arc. I believe that will work out just fine. That is if you accept my offer."

Jaune smiled, "Absolutely."

Ozpin gained that small smile of his and stood up from his desk, offering his hand to Jaune. "Then I believe we have a deal." Jaune stood up and shook his hand. "I will send you the files on your opponents when I've decided on what team. Since the semester is ending in a couple of weeks, we'll schedule it for the last day. Any objection?"

Jaune pulled his hand away and shook his head, "None at all. I'll look forward to it."

"Now, do you wish to go back to Vale? It is late and I could easily have you stay in one of the rooms in the dorms for the night." Ozpin offered.

Jaune shook his head, "I appreciate the offer but I should head back. My cousins will be worried sick when they find out what I got into tonight. And it'd get worse if I didn't come back until tomorrow."

He nodded one final time, "Very well. See you in a couple of weeks, Mr. Arc."

Jaune nodded back, "See you then, Professor." With that, he turned to the elevator and took it back down. He wore a smile on his face the entire way down, one mixed with happiness and anticipation. A part of him was still just trying to wrap his head around this whole scenario. And trying to believe it too. He was so close to reclaiming his dream, so close. The smile didn't waver but his eyes gained a more determined light to them, 'Nothing's going to stop me this time around.'

He was getting closer to the air docks and the bullhead that would take him back to Vale. That was when he heard a familiar voice shouting behind him, "Jaune!"

He turned around and was slightly surprised to see her running towards him in a mad sprint. He turned completely to her when she stopped in front of him, trying to reclaim her breath as she had a desperate look in her eyes, "Blake, what's wrong?" he asked in concern.

Their eyes locked for a second before her's quickly darted towards the ground. "I….I didn't want our relationship to stand where it is. I wanted to fix it before you left."

Jaune jut raised an eyebrow, "Uh, Blake, fix _what_ exactly?"

She managed to just look back up at him, "I saw the way you looked at Yang." That caused him to clench his fist subconsciously. "And that connected a few dots and it's pretty obvious now. Yang was the one that shattered your arm, right?"

Jaune just closed his eyes and nodded, "Yeah. That was her."

Blake nodded her head once, "I'm so sorry, Jaune."

She stopped when Jaune placed his left hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly. "Blake, you have nothing to be sorry about. Yes, Yang did this to me. Even if she is on your team, what she did has _nothing_ to do with you." He gave her a calming smile, "So, don't worry about it. You're my friend and nothing less. Even if you do get me into trouble with criminal master minds." He finished with a smirk.

Blake just looked at him for a bit before she gained a small smile and she placed her hand over his own. "Thank you." She said sincerely.

Jaune just looked at her and even if she was calmer, she still looked a bit distraught. And only one thing came to his mind to help with that, "Blake, do you want a hug?"

She looked at him confused, "What?"

He shrugged, "You look kind of shaken. And from my experience with my sisters and cousins, a hug can help with that."

She just looked at him for a bit. She really wasn't into hugs but considering how much Jaune had done for her in such a short time, it would be rude to dismiss it. Especially since he was doing it in a way to help her. She sighed before looking back at him, "Sure."

Jaune nodded before he took a step closer to her. His left hand let go of her shoulder before it wrapped around her upper back and his right arm wrapped around her lower back. He then held her close, trying to make her feel better. He was somewhat shocked when she in turn felt her own arms going around his back. He didn't say anything about it though, just held her close and hoped it was making her feel better.

On Blake's end, it was a bit different for the Faunus. She really wasn't exposed to a lot of physical affection like this since she was in the White Fang most of her life and away from her family. Even Adam wasn't big on this type of thing. She was exposed it more since being on Team RWBY thanks to Ruby and Yang. Although Ruby's were more like being tackled and Yang's were more bone crushing.

Jaune's though, were completely different. It gave her a sense of security and was very warm. It was very nice to say the least. She couldn't resist wrapping her own arms around him to draw herself closer or resting her head against his shoulder. If it wasn't for her self-control, there would've been a good chance she would let out a tiny purr from the contentment. If she was being completely honest with herself, if being friends with Jaune meant more hugs like this, she wouldn't mind in the slightest.

After a minute or so, Jaune spoke up, "You feeling any better?" The only response he got from the Faunus was a brief nod and a hum, that her took as a 'yes'. With that, Jaune pulled away from the hug. Blake letting him go, a bit reluctantly. "I need to go. We'll talk soon, okay?"

Blake just smiled at him, "I'd like that. When you get some free time, ley me know. Maybe we can find sometime to hang out?"

He nodded, "I'd like that. See you later." He said with a slight wave before he turned around to walk towards the bullhead that would be taking him back to Vale. That was until he turned back to her, "Hey, Blake!" She turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, "I was right, they are way cuter!" He finished with a smirk.

She tilted her head at that, not entirely sur eon what he was referring to. That was until the memory of earlier stirred and her eyes widened with her ear flicking a bit under her bow. "Jaune!" she shouted at him in slight embarrassment as her cheeks gained a pinkish tint to them.

With that reaction, he chuckled before he ran onto the bullhead to avoid her wrath. She just glared at the bullhead a sit close dup and began to start its preflight checks. She eventually turned away with a huff and started to walk away from the airfield. She was still annoyed and embarrassed by Jaune's comment. But considering everything, it did make her happy to know that after everything, he was still acting normally towards her. Things looked like they were fine between them.

Jaune was making his way back to the club with a small smile on his face. It was early in the morning now so he knew that it was done with all its business. As he was approaching, he saw that only one bouncer was there and was about to lock the door. "Mind not doing that?" Jaune asked out loud.

The bouncer turned around and saw it was Jaune. "Oh, Jaune. Pretty late for you to be out. Lucky lady?" he asked with a smile.

Jaune just smiled back and shook his head, "Nah. Just something came up." The bouncer opened the door for him and Jaune gave him his thanks before he slipped into the club. As he was walking through the building, he saw some of his uncle's employees and his usual cleaning crew were already starting the usual cleaning that had to be done every night. A few of his uncle's men that weren't too busy looked up to him to give them nods or to wave. Jaune would return the pleasantries while making hi sway to the staircase that would take him up to the apartment.

Once he got up to the apartment and walked in, he was shocked to see that his extended family was fast asleep in the living room. Melanie and Miltia were both asleep on the couch, each one curled up on either side. Meanwhile, Hei was fast asleep in his recliner. Jaune just looked them over before sighing to himself. "I'm definitely going to hear about this in the morning." He whispered to himself.

He then turned to walk down the hall and went to a small closet. He grabbed a few blankets from the closet and started to return to his family. He wasn't going to try to wake them. Mostly because Hei slept like a rock and the twins were the equivalent to that of wild animals when they were awoken. He covered each one of his cousins before giving them each a kiss on their foreheads. Melanie smiled slightly while Miltia tried to bury her face into the blanket. He then put the last blanket over his uncle before he went to his own room.

Once he was there, he took off his jacket to hang it up and took off his sword to place on his dresser. He then changed out of his clothes and into a t-shirt and pajama pants. He then took off his brace and placed it on his dresser next to his sword. Finally he took off his compression sleeve to place it on his dresser as well. With all that done, he collapsed onto his bed and started to lull to sleep.

* * *

It was around eight in the morning, Jaune was still fast asleep in his bed. Peacefully ignorant to the world around him. That was until his bedroom door was kicked open and he was jumped on by the twins. The air was knocked out of his lungs with a gasp as the two twins were yelling at him. Not that he couldn't understand what they were saying. It took a solid minute for him to get his breathing back to normal before one of his hand was on each of his cousin's faces, "Get off!" he said in annoyance before he pushed them off either side of his bed.

When they crashed onto the floor, he sat up and started to gently massage his chest. Luckily, his bruising had mostly healed in the night so the twins didn't agitate it by jumping on him. "What is wrong with you two?"

Miltia stood up first and leveled him with a glare, "What's wrong with us?! What's wrong with you?!"

Jaune shrugged, "Shattered arm."

Miltia just growled at him as Melanie stood up as well, "You didn't come home last night. You had us worried sick."

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, that wasn't part of the plan. Sorry about that. I should've called."

At that point, it looked like Miltia was going to explode at him when all three heard Hei call for him, "Uh, Jaune, can you come here for a moment?"

That confused the three of them but he got out of bed all the same. He left his room with the twins right behind him. They walked down the hallway and eventually saw Hei standing nervously in his kitchen, staring into the living room. Jaune just raised an eyebrow, "What's up, Uncle…." His eyes started to follow his into the living room until they widened, "….Hei?"

Standing in the living room were two people. One was a woman in simple jeans and a cream colored long-sleeved shirt. She was about a head shorter than Jaune and her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes filled with unshed tears. The other was a man a few inches taller than Jaune with tanned skin. He was dressed in black boots and pants with a tight white t-shirt that showed up his muscular physique. He had trimmed short hair with a well maintained goatee, both blonde. He had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at Hei before they soften when they land on Jaune.

Jaune just stared at the two unable to speak. Eventually he swallowed, "Mom? Dad?"


	8. Weathering

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Jaune just stayed frozen in place at the threshold to the living room and just staring at his parents standing there. They both just looked at him in both concern and joy after seeing him after so long. On top of that, this was the first time he had even spoke to them since the phone call all those months ago. That just made a greater weight settle in his stomach from all the guilt. As the three blondes just kept up with their silent staring contest, the other three family members were just looking on in concern. Hei was still watching from his spot in the kitchen while the twins were a few feet behind their cousin. Not sure what they should, if anything at all.

Eventually, Jaune found his voice and broke the silence that had engulfed the entire apartment. "Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?"

Guess that was all it took because after those words, Alexandra slowly started to walk over to him. Jaune tensed up as she was only a foot away from him. She just looked up into his eyes as tears slowly fell down her cheeks. That was when her arms wrapped around her only son and rested her cheek on his shoulder, "My baby boy, you're okay."

Jaune relaxed slightly and wrapped his own arms around his mother. A small smile came to his lips, "Yeah. I'm okay, Mom." He just held her as his mother cried into his shoulder. It was a minute or so later when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see it was indeed his father. He looked up at him as the small smile stayed on his lips. "Hey, Dad." He said slightly nervous.

All his father did was wrap his arms around his son and wife, just holding them close. The family stayed like that, uninterrupted for several minutes until they all slowly started to pull away. Alexandra wiped the remaining tears from her eyes while Noah looked down at his son, "So, how are you really, son?"

Jaune looked up at him then to his mother before he sighed to himself, 'No point lying to them.' He started to raise his arm before it stopped when it was even with his shoulder and the entire arm started to shake, "I can't raise my arm above my head." He lowered his arm but it was still shaking, less than when he had it raised but still enough to be noticeable. "I still have tremors and if I grip something too tightly, my hand will spasm. But I do have my strength back in it, so it's as normal as it's going to be now."

Alexandra raised her hand to cover her mouth in shock while Noah's eyes hardened into a glare before he looked past Jaune at Hei. The uncle physically flinched at the sheer anger in his eyes, "See what you did, Hei? I warned you about how your practices would get someone hurt. And I was right. Because of you, look what you did to my son!" he shouted the last part and caused everyone to jump.

All except for Jaune who gave his father a glare, "He doesn't need you to tell him that, Dad. He's been beating himself up enough without you adding onto it."

Noah looked at his son before turning his gaze at Hei who was now looking down at the ground, "Don't bother protecting him, Jaune. He's had this coming for a while."

"That's enough! Drop it already!" Jaune shouted at the top of his lungs. Everyone turned to him in shock. His head was down so his hair was covering his eyes but they could see that his mouth was set in a snarl. His hands were in tight fists at his sides and his right arm was shaking like mad from all the stress. He turned to his dad with such an angry glare, "You have _no_ idea on what happened when my arm was shattered, so you don't get to come in here to pass judgement on Uncle Hei."

"Yeah, Uncle Hei does give out information to shadier people, I won't deny that. But if the person he is dealing with is dangerous, he'll find ways to tip off the police that won't endanger the people around him. On top of that, Hunters will come in just as often as any criminals. They'll ask him for information on criminals or rogue Hunters or even for people who have just gone missing after missions. And he'll help them just as much, if not more so, than any other person that comes in." He took a breath, "Yeah, Uncle Hei works in a grey area but life is not black and white, Dad. You know this."

Noah just blinked in shock, Jaune had never lost his temper like that. He had a temper but he'd try to not completely lose it like that. He quickly recollected himself, "That may be true but it's because of-"

"It wasn't any client he has ever had that hurt me! It was just some Huntress-in-training with on a power trip!" Jaune shouted. "And I'm sick of you trying to act like you're not at fault in this either." Noah looked at him in shock, "If I had my aura unlocked sooner, I would've been able to get out of that situation without my arm being shattered."

"Jaune, I know but it's part of the Arc training to not unlock your aura until later to-"

Jaune cut his father off again, "To make it so I wouldn't be so reliant on it, I know. I could understand that when I was a kid. My training didn't even become real training until I was ten and I can completely understand not giving aura to someone that young. But what about when I was thirteen? That is the normal age to have someone's aura unlocked. Even if you wanted to go along with tradition, fifteen or sixteen would've been more than enough. But you didn't unlock my aura _at all_. So, I want the _real_ answer, Dad, why didn't you ever unlock my aura? Why?" his voice held a finality that none of his family had heard from him before.

Noah just looked at his son, still in shock. He hadn't expected the conversation to go this way. He looked to his wife and the two just gave each other a look. Alexandra gave him a reluctant nod and Noah sighed, "The truth is, Jaune, we didn't want you to be a Huntsman."

Jaune was silent as his eyes widened for a second. The shock overriding the anger he was feeling up to that point. "What?" was the only thing he could utter.

Noah nodded, "I know how dangerous and spirit breaking this career can be. If it wasn't for me meeting your mother… I have no idea who I would be today or if I would still be standing here." He scratched the back of his head for a second before he resumed speaking to his only son, "I wanted to spare all my children from that fate. But with you, it became more so since you are my only son. A part of me was secretly hoping you'd give up with the intensity of the training but you never did."

"But I-I thought you were proud of me for how much I had been improving?" Jaune asked.

"Honey, we are." Alexandra spoke up next. "We were amazed by how quickly you picked it up and were proud that no matter what that you kept going."

He turned to his mother, "So, why never unlock my aura?" he asked desperately. "If you knew that I wouldn't give up, why not help me better prepare for the future?"

Noah looked down in shame, "In the beginning it was to keep up with tradition. But, as time went on, I guess we were still hoping you'd listen and stop. To get off this more than likely dark path before it started. We were too stubborn with that hope and by the time we had to accept that fact, it was too late…"

Jaune looked down again and his fists clenched again but this time something else happened. His aura started to act up and was flaring around him. "Jaune?" Alexandra asked in concern.

"Well, it's good to know now." His voiced now filled with venom. "Good to know where I fucking stand with my family." He looked up at his parent's with the epitome of anger written on his face but with tears streaming down his face. That hurt everyone to look at, most of all for his parents. "Good to know my family was trying to sabotage my dream, to be just like my ancestors, from the very beginning. While my extended family has done _everything_ to get me back on track. Guess you got your wish. Your broken son wouldn't be able to be a Huntsman now, huh?" With that her turned his back on his parents and went back to his room without waiting for an answer. His aura slowly receding back into him with every step he took.

Alexandra and Noah just looked at each other. Both had the same expression on their faces and thought going through their head: What have we done?

Jaune came out later dressed in his normal clothes, minus his jacket. Crocea Mors was hanging from his belt and he was finishing attaching the top half of his brace to his upper arm as he was walking out. Once it was on fully, he clenched his fingers a few times before marching to the door with a new purpose in his steps. "Jaune, where are you going?" Hei asked. His parents would've asked the same but they were staring at their son's brace in shock, it being the first time they were seeing it and all.

"I need to get to work." He said in a neutral voice. "This _broken_ Arc has a chance to get into Beacon in a few weeks and I won't let this chance slip by me again." He then threw open the door before slamming it behind him. Luckily not using his brace or the door would've been broken, no way around it.

"Jaune!" Alexandra yelled before trying to run to the door. She was stopped however when a hand settled on her shoulder. She looked to see it was her brother, "Hei?"

He just shook his head, "You should let him cool off for a little bit first. Otherwise someone might say something they don't mean." Alexandra looked down sadly but nodded. Hei gave his sister a gentle squeeze to her shoulder before he turned back to the kitchen, "You two make yourselves at home. I'll get coffee ready."

Alexandra sadly made her way over to the couch with that. She sat down and just looked down at the ground with her hands clenched in her lap. She felt a weight settle beside her and an arm wrap around her back. She looked over to see that it was her husband, who was looking at her with his own saddened look in his eyes. She sniffled slightly before leaning over to rest against him. "We really messed this up, didn't we?" she asked.

Noah just gave a quiet sigh as he held his wife close, "Yeah. I think we did."

The two sat in a silence for a while. The only thing to break that silence was when Hei walked in with two steaming cups of coffee and placed them on the table in front of him. Noah looked up to him and nodded a thanks. Hei just gave him a half smile before going back to the kitchen. A couple minutes later, the two heard a door open and close from down the hallway. Noah looked over to see his nieces coming down the hallway dressed in workout gear in their usual colors schemes. Hei was the one to speak up, "Where are you two going?"

Melanie was the one to answer, "We're going to keep an eye on Jaune. We still don't know what he got into last night but we don't need him exhausting himself."

Miltia followed up, "Plus, it be easier for him to work out his frustrations while sparring with us instead of just running through his stances."

Hei just nodded, "Alright. Call if things get out of hand."

They nodded reluctantly, hating to be treated like they couldn't handle themselves but knowing their adopted father would worry about them regardless. They then turned to the married couple on the couch. Melanie smiled, "Don't worry, Uncle Noah and Aunt Alex, we'll keep an eye on Jaune."

Miltia gave a half smile, half cocky grin, "And if he's still being a stubborn idiot, we'll kick his ass for you."

Noah smiled and turned back to his wife as she giggled. She looked over the couch with a grateful smile. "Thank you, girls. We appreciate that," The twins just smiled before they left to go chase after their wayward cousin. Alexandra then turned to her brother who was sipping on his own coffee in the kitchen as he was looking over the news on his scroll. "You have some good kids there, Hei."

He smiled and looked up, "Don't I know it. They're what I'm most proud of." He then looked back at his scroll, "Although, not sure how much is from me or if it's all from their parents."

"Don't you start that again." Alexandra said with a hint of annoyance. "You raised those girls when they had no one. You cared for them like your own and did everything physically possible for them. You are their father and have every right to be proud in who they turned out to be. Now stop being an idiot." She said with a smirk as she turned around and took her own sip of coffee.

Hei just smiled, "Got it, Sis." He said quietly but not so quiet that she couldn't hear it.

* * *

It was about fifteen minutes later and Jaune was currently in a vacant lot not too far from the club. It was about half the size of the club and was surrounded on the three sides by buildings, all vacant, with the one last side completely exposed to the street. It was also filled with piles of rubble and scrap metal along with partial walls of the building that once stood there. It was owned by Hei but he had not done anything with it as of yet, so Jaune had been using it as his training area. He was currently training his body using his new fighting style, he tried his original fighting style but doing so just made him think about his parents more which infuriated him more.

Crocea Mors was in his left hand and he was just delivering series of slashes through the air repeatedly. Running around the lot to jump off walls or debris to flip through the air or deliver kicks before rolling or landing and resuming more slashes. On occasions, he would throw punches or elbows with his brace covered arm. He never stopped moving for a second, both to fully optimize his training and to just try to focus more on this than his parents.

He just kept this up for a while. Five minutes became ten. Then fifteen. Then thirty. And finally forty-five. Exhaustion was starting to overcome his body but Jaune was trying to ignore it and kept pushing himself to keep running, jumping, slashing, kicking and punching. But no matter what, his parents kept coming to his mind and he would grow angry. Then he'd have to try his best to get it back under control.

It was during one of those moments of distraction, that he flipped onto a pile of debris and accidentally kicked up some scrap metal into the air. As it was coming towards his face, he acted on instinct and swung his arm backwards and knocked it away with his brace. The scrap metal went flying towards one of the buildings and he heard shouting. He quickly turned to see Miltia and Melanie dive to the side to avoid it. It just barely missed them and the piece of metal was now stuck in the wall. Jaune just stood there in shock before Melanie peaked over one of the crumbling walls and Miltia stood up with her hands on her hips, "Jaune, what the hell?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" he said instantly, "Didn't know you were there." At that point, he realized how badly he was panting and his body was shaking from the adrenaline. He hadn't fully recovered from the exertion he had gone through the previous night and the adrenaline was what it needed to be able to keep up with this training he was pushing onto himself.

He sighed before he turned his back on his cousins and started to walk the twenty or so feet to the opposite wall, realizing it was pointless to push himself anymore. It would just cause more bad than good. Once he was five feet from the wall, he planted his sword into the ground before turning around to lean his back against said wall. With a sigh, he slowly let himself slide down the wall until he was sitting down. He closed his eyes and looked up to the sky. A second later, his right arm swung backwards and his fist impact the wall sending spider web cracks out and reaching four feet away at the farthest. With that he sighed and let his arm fall to rest beside him.

He heard two sets of footsteps nearing him and he opened his eyes to see that it was Melanie and Miltia, both looking down at him with concern. After a moment, the two sat down across from him in a cross-legged position. "You feeling any better?" Melanie asked.

Jaune sighed again, "No. No, I'm not." He ran his left hand through his hair, "I've always had this suspicion in the back of my head about how they felt about me becoming a Huntsman. But seeing how supportive they were the longer it went on, I thought I was overthinking it. But now…I've finally found out I was right. And a part of me wishes I never found out. Ignorance is bliss after all."

"At least you know now." Miltia added. "So, what do you want to do now? About your parents that is."

Jaune shrugged as he shook his head, "I have no idea. I didn't want to lose it like that but my dad pushed my buttons. Guess I just had some lingering anger for my parents blaming Uncle Hei when I talked to them on the scroll. And the frustrations of not having my aura unlocked sooner just bled into that as well."

The twins were quiet for a while before Miltia spoke up, "All things considered, that probably needed to happen."

Jaune raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

She shrugged, "You can't bottle up your emotions for long, they'll always come out eventually. Especially anger and usually the longer it festers, the worse it gets. Better let it out now before something happened that could've _really_ hurt your relationship with your parents. Besides, you weren't necessarily wrong with what you said. Should you have said it calmer, possibly but you probably wouldn't have said what you needed to so you wouldn't hurt them."

He just looked at her for a while before he nodded, "I guess you have a point. Still, I feel a bit bad about insulting my parents like that."

Melanie gave him a small smile, "Jaune, every kid out there insults their parents at one point in time or another. It's normal, sad as that is."

Jaune leant more against the wall and relaxed as he absorbed what they said, "Well, I have to talk to them eventually, just not now." He looked back at them with a grin, "Wanna go out to breakfast?"

The two looked at each other before turning back to him with matching grins, "You're buying?" They asked in unison.

That caused the blonde to laugh, "Yeah. Yeah I will. Come on." He pushed off the wall and back to his feet. Once he was, he reached down and offered both arms to his cousins before pulling them to their feet. They then started to walk out of the lot with Jaune pulling his sword free as he walked by it. He sheathed it and the three made their way to their usual diner.

* * *

About an hour or so later, Jaune, Melanie and Miltia were walking back up the stairs that would take them back to the apartment. Jaune had cooled off significantly with the help of his cousins and was now ready to face his parents again. Hopefully this time in a much calmer fashion. He stood in front of the door a for a few extra seconds before he took a breath to calm his nerves. It helped that both twins gently placed their hands on his shoulders and gently squeezed. He smiled and turned around to look at them both with a grateful smile.

With that, he opened the door to the apartment and saw a sight that he wasn't expecting to see. His uncle was now sitting in his usual chair while his parents were situated on the couch. Hei and his mother were talking and laughing, most likely catching up after so long. But was more shocking was his father was smiling and chuckling as well. Hei and Noah were never really close, not openly hostile but usually not on good terms. But now, it looked like they were actually enjoying their time together. 'What happened when we were gone?' Jaune and the twins each thought to themselves.

Hei caught them in the corner of his eye and turned to the trio, "Hey, look who's back." He said with a smile.

With that, the blonde couple turned to the door and laid their eyes on their son. Jaune just stared at them for a bit as the twins walked past him to the kitchen to let the family have the time they needed. Jaune eventually looked to the side and scratched the back of his head, "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for losing my temper like that. I've just been stressed and-"

He was stopped when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and he looked up to see that it was his father again. He just looked at his son with a look of sadness but acceptance. "Jaune, you don't have to apologize. You had every right to be mad at me and your mother, more so me. I was stubborn and I should've stopped trying to dissuade you long ago. And because of _my_ stubbornness, you were hurt badly. That is something I will have to deal with."

He then moved his hands to gently cup his son's face, "But you have overcome that. And if the videos your uncle has shown us, you have not only overcome your injuries but you've grown all stronger for it. And even if I wish this wasn't what you wanted, I can say this with full conviction: I am so proud of you, Jaune." he said with a warm, fatherly smile.

Jaune's eyes widened before he smiled widely. He felt his eyes water and quickly looked down, "Thanks, Dad." With that, he was pulled into a hug and Jaune quickly returned it. They pulled away not too long after once both men were sure the other had enough reassurance.

"Alright, with that done, why don't you tell us what you've been up to over the last few months." Alexandra spoke up from the couch. Jaune chuckled with that and nodded before sitting down next to his parents as he started to tell his parents about his physical therapy, getting his brace and then his new training he had been going through to develop another type of fighting style. Up until the weekend where he met Blake, leaving out she was a Faunus or an ex-Fang member. But _that_ wasn't what caught his mother's attention, "Wait a minute, Blake? Who exactly is this new young woman in my son's life?" she asked with this teasing grin on her face.

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Blake is just a friend, Mom. I barely know her but from what I know so far is that she is a good person and I want to know more about her." He said with a small smile.

"Well, is she pretty at least?" His mother kept pushing.

Jaune blushed slightly before he cleared his throat, "Yes, Mom. Well, maybe not exactly pretty though. She has this, uh… mysterious beauty to her. I guess."

His mother gave a high pitched screech, it wouldn't have shocked anyone if it could shatter glass, before she wrapped her son in a tight hug. "You have to introduce me to her. I need to know if this girl is good enough for my baby boy."

Jaune blushed deeper, "Mom! I'm not interested in her like that, we just met!"

Alexandra just smiled more, "Things can easily change, Jaune. Hell, most couples start off as strangers." She gave him a wink when she finished. Jaune groaned as the twins started to cackle in the background. The uncle and father just giving him shit eating grins.

"Anyway." He stressed the word as he gently pushed his mother off him. "I got Uncle to give me the information she was looking for and we decided to stake out the docks last night. We found out it was the White Fang and we were just going to take some pictures for the police until Roman Torchwick stepped out as well…."

"And?" Noah asked with a tone that told Jaune he had a good idea on where this was going.

Jaune sighed in resignation, "Blake kinda lost it and we ended up fighting the White Fang and Torchwick."

"You did what!?" shouted the three women in the room. Jaune flinched while the two other men just looked on in shock.

"Yeah we ended up fighting. We managed to take down quite a few White Fang. Blake's team leader and her friend showed up and gave us a hand too. I actually got the upper hand on Torchwick, mostly because he wasn't taking me seriously though. Still managed to get away though." He gently massaged his chest, "Afterwards, the police showed up and we gave them our statements along with the evidence we had."

"That's when I met the rest of Blake's team." He then muttered, "For better or worse." That's when he thought of his 'reunion' with Xiao Long but managed to keep his anger in check before it even rose. "Professor Ozpin was there as well and he asked me to come back to Beacon so we could discuss a few things."

"Ozpin wanted to talk to you? About what?" Hei asked in shock and evident concern.

Jaune couldn't help but smile and give a chuckle, "About me attending Beacon. Next semester." He saw the absolute flabbergasted looks on the adults faces and that made him chuckle more, "Yeah, that was my reaction." That was when the twins jumped over the back of the couch to tackled Jaune to the ground. They were hugging him and laughing while saying several things like: You made it and we knew you could do it.

Jaune just smiled, "Hate to break it to you but I didn't. Not yet at least." They both stopped and looked at him in confusion, "I still need to pass an initiation and then I can start next semester. Ozpin said it would be a few fights with the members of a first year team. He said it should be in a few weeks at the end of the semester."

Noah nodded his head, "That's good. It'll give you some time to prepare. And I can help you get some more battle experience, if you're interested."

Jaune stood up as he managed to get the twins to let him go, "That would be great. I can test my new style out on you and see how well it stacks up."

Hei cleared his throat, "I also have something in the pipeline. It should give you an addition to your arsenal as well." He said with smirk.

Jaune gained a smirk, "Sweet. Anyways, Ozpin said he'd send me a message when he decided on the team and forward me some information on them." And like magic, Jaune's scroll went off while on the coffee table. Jaune picked it up and looked at it, "Huh, speak of the devil. It's Ozpin now." He started to go over the information Ozpin had sent him and his eyes widened in shock. He placed his hand over his face as he groaned, "Does he have it out for me?" he asked the room as a whole but that just confused the other occupants.

The message had just informed him the team he'd be facing was none other than Team RWBY. He had to fight the team with his only friend at Beacon and the woman that broke his arm. This simple initiation just became very, _very_ complicated.


	9. Trial Testing

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Ozpin was sitting at his desk early in the morning. He was enjoying his coffee as he was starting some of his morning paperwork. Something he loathed to do but knew was necessary evil. Academies didn't run themselves after all. On occasions, he'd have Glynda help him out with the workload but he had decided to not do that today. He had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't be her most favorite person this morning.

As if on cue, he heard the sound of the elevator rising. His eyes went back to his paperwork as he waited for it to stop. Once it did, Glynda came walking into his office with a purpose in her step. "Ozpin, what is the meaning of this?" she asked clearly annoyed.

He didn't look up from his paperwork as he answered, "Good morning, Glynda. Would you like some coffee?"

She ignored that easily, "Ozpin, how could you make Mr. Arc's test to fight team RWBY of all people?"

He stopped and sighed before looking up to meet her eyes. She was clearly annoyed and a bit angry but he just looked at her calmly, "Because this is something that needs to be done."

"There are other teams. He could easily be tested against any of them." Glynda argued.

He shook his head, "The only two teams that would be a worthy test for him are RWBY and Miss Nikos' team. But the latter is not a full team so they are out. You've seen his transcripts before the accident, if things would've been different, he would've easily been in the top five of his class."

Glynda just kept glaring ta him, "You saw how those two reacted by seeing each other."

"That is exactly why I'm doing this, Glynda." He told her sternly. "Both have unresolved emotions and they need to settle them before a bigger problem comes about from it."

"By having them fight each other?" she asked in confusion.

"Yes." He said simply. He stood from his desk and turned to look out the window behind him. "Mr. Arc is trying to hold his anger in because he doesn't want to cause any further problems. He doesn't want to deal with all the emotions he has been feeling over the last few months. But he can't keep ignoring it. Eventually it'll build up until he can't take it anymore. The only way to prevent that is by making him face the source of that anger."

"And Miss Xiao Long?" she asked.

"She has made strides to come to terms with what she did, yes. But she hasn't made any significant steps in overcoming it. She can fight more normally now but her usual passion is still gone. Every time she uses her Semblance, she freezes. That could be downright deadly in the field. And it is a good thing she doesn't turn it into a crutch but not being able to use it at all, could cost her greatly down the line."

"We could help the two of them once Mr. Arc was a student. Slowly but surely, they could get better and then we could have them sit down and hash this out." She tried to argue.

"It wouldn't be any better to have the two of them on campus together without those feelings being resolved in any way." Ozpin said as he shook his head slightly, "The emotions they would be feeling would just keep growing until one or both couldn't take it anymore. And that would be a far worse situation. I think it would be better to have them in a more secure environment where we can step in if anything goes too far."

The two were quiet for a while until she sighed, "You've thought this through."

Ozpin turned back to his Deputy Headmistress, "I have. This test will also force those two to confront the source of their negativity head on. Once they do,, we can begin to really help them move forward." He sighed, "Trust me, Glynda. I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice but we don't. Along with their parent's strength, those two inherited their stubbornness as well."

Glynda nodded, "So, what should I do during the test, sir?"

"You and I will observe the matches and see if Mr. Arc has what it takes to be in this academy. But on the off chance that things go too far, we will step in before anything irreversible happens." He explained.

Goodwitch nodded, "Alright. I'll trust you on this, Ozpin. I'm just hoping nothing happens that'll make us have to step in."

Ozpin picked up his mug and looked down into the coffee, "You and I both, Glynda."

* * *

The few weeks that Jaune had to prepare for his Initiation passed quicker than he would've liked. Nearly every day he was training and studying the videos of the fights Ozpin gave him. He only gave him two for each girl on RWBY but he would use them to their fullest. Although, his family was sure to not allow him to over exhaust himself. It wouldn't help him in the slightest if he overworked himself before he had the chance to prove himself. He had found out that when his parents came to Vale, they asked his oldest sister, Saphron, and her wife, Terra, to watch over the younger Arc sisters while they were gone.

Most of his training was with the twins or his father. Against the twins, he had them keep up the pressure of fighting two opponents at once so he could better get use to swapping between his two fighting styles. While against his father, he was being pushed to his limits. His father was barely holding back with his son having his aura unlocked. He was also shocked just how strong his son had become in just the few months apart.

Along with that, Noah was also helping Jaune to fully master the aura slash he was working on. Made sense. He originally saw his father use the technique and that was who he was trying to imitate while using it. It took the better part of two weeks but Jaune could now use it. Although he was limited; at full aura, he could use the technique three times, four if he pushed it, before the strain would become too much for him. His father told him his limit would increase once he used the technique more frequently. So, he'd have to make do for now.

At the beginning of the second week, the gift that Hei as talking about had finally come in. It was a case of specially made grenades. They were dark grey with a single black line around the middle of the entire thing. They were almost completely spherical except that the top and bottom of them were flattened. The flattened parts were where the button was to arm them and they would then explode on contact with whatever it was thrown against. Or alternatively, the section around the button could be turned to activate a timer for up to a thirty seconds.

Hei had felt that Jaune needed some sort of ranged weaponry or one that didn't require him to exhaust his aura. And with the added strength his brace gave him, he could throw these a good distance. But before his uncle would allow him to have free reign with live explosives, he made sure to train him with some training grenades. The last thing they needed was for him to blow off his other hand.

When he wasn't training physically, he was reviewing the videos that Ozpin sent him of RWBY fighting. He had to admit it, each was very skilled in their own right. Not unbeatable though. Each had one or two openings that if he exploited, could turn the tide of the fight in his favor. He would still have to be careful; four matches were still a lot to go through. He'd have to try to save as many of his tricks for as long as possible. Regardless, he was going to do his damnedest to win as many of those fights as possible and earn his spot into Beacon.

He did have one unexpected interruption halfway through the second week. It was actually a slow day for him since he had fought his dad the day before and needed a day to recuperate. He was going to review the fights for probably the dozenth time when his scroll went off. He was honestly stunned to see that it was Blake. She was done with classes and she was wondering if they could meet to catch up. Jaune agreed easily enough.

The hard part was sneaking away from his mother after she overheard on exactly who he was meeting up with. She teased him mercilessly and he was genuinely shocked the blood vessels in his cheeks didn't burst from the excess blushing. If it would've kept up, he may have jumped out a window to get away from her. He eventually got out of the apartment but he quickly realized that his mother was tailing him to probably spy on his date, as she was calling it. Luckily after all the time he had spent in Vale, he was able to give his mother the slip after ten minutes of ducking in and out of alleys. And with that, he arrived at what was quickly becoming their usual spot at the same café.

He walked over and saw Blake in her usual outfit waiting outside for him. He smiled and raised his hand, "Blake, sorry I'm late."

Blake turned to him with her own smile, "It's fine, Jaune. I just got here myself."

Jaune nodded, "Well good. Let's grab a table." She nodded and the two walked into the building. They were quickly given a table towards the back of the establishment. They each ordered a drink before the waitress went off to go prepare them. "So, what suddenly brought this on?" Jaune asked out of the blue.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

He shrugged, "I mean, you message me a few times most days and call me every once in a while, so its not like we haven't been in contact. So why did you want to meet up? Problems with the team again?"

Before she could answer, the waitress was back with their coffee and tea. They both offered their thanks before Blake started to answer him, "No, my team is doing just fine. Weiss settled down enough for me to explain everything and we've buried the hatchet. Ruby never really had a problem with my past." She then said the next part in a whisper, "Although, she did bother me for a while. She kept asking to pet my ears." She then took a sip from her tea.

Jaune couldn't help his eyes going up to stare at her bow. He then tilted his head slightly and had a contemplative look on his face. Blake put down her mug and saw the look on his face and where he was looking. She quickly realized what was going through his head and pointed a finger ta him, "Don't you start too."

Jaune shrugged before bringing the mug to his lips to hide the smirk that was forming, "They're probably so soft."

"Jaune!" she said just loud enough to get her point across but not disturb anyone else in the café.

He raised his hand in surrender, "Okay, okay." He did notice the very faint blush on her cheeks but decided to not mention it. He then sighed, "What about your last teammate?"

Blake looked at him in confusion and shock. She did not think that he would bring up Yang. She wasn't going to out of respect, so this caught her completely off guard. "Um, she was fine. She was more made about me running off than me keeping my secret."

Jaune nodded, "That's good." He said simply before he took another sip of his coffee.

There was a short silence before Blake asked, "Why are you asking?" He looked back up at her with a raised eyebrow, imitating her from earlier. Her fingers were tracing random patterns on the sides of her mug. "After everything she did, why are you asking about her?"

He sighed again. He was hoping that she wouldn't ask about it but it looked like he used all his luck ditching his mother. "Me and her may have our problems but, at the end of the day, she's still your partner. I asked because I don't want to be that thing that hurts your relationship with her since you'll need to rely on her for the next four years, minimum. That's why I asked."

Blake just looked at him and gave a tiny smile before she looked down, "Thanks, Jaune. That means a lot." She took a sip of her own tea.

Jaune gave her a small grin, "Don't think you're off the hook though. You never answered, why exactly you wanted to see me."

Blake sighed, "Are you always this perspective?"

"When I have my coffee, yes." He said with a smile. "Come on. You know I'm not gonna let this go."

She just kept looking at him before she looked down at her tea, "I guess, I missed you. You stuck your neck out for me before and you've shown to be a good friend." She looked up to look him in the eyes, "Is it wrong that I wanted to see my friend?"

Jaune just looked at her and smiled. "No, not at all. To be honest, I wanted to see you sooner than the week or so I would have to wait anyway."

Blake raised an eyebrow again, "What happens in a week?"

That caused him to freeze. He hadn't mentioned the fact he'd be fighting her team at the end of the semester. He didn't even tell her about his chance to go to Beacon at all. Mostly because he didn't want to accidentally slip and tell her he'd be fighting her team and more specifically her to get in. He didn't want her to try and convince her team to go easy on him or something along those lines. It wouldn't prove anything to Ozpin or himself.

After cursing his slip up internally, he decided to come clean. "So much for the surprise. You remember when Ozpin wanted to talk to me in private?" She nodded. "Well, he made me an offer: at the end of the semester, I have to fight a team of first years. If I prove myself, I'll be able to join Beacon at the beginning of next semester."

Blake's eyes widened in shock, "You're serious?" He nodded with a small grin. "Jaune, that's great." She said with an excitement he hadn't heard from her before. Her hands then went over the table and held his free hand, the one without the brace. "Have you been preparing?"

He nodded, "Absolutely. Been training my butt off since he made me that offer. Got a couple more options in my bag of tricks as well. I won't be going down easily."

"You should have more faith in yourself. You did do a number on Torchwick." She said with a small grin.

He shrugged, "The only reason that happened because he wasn't taking us seriously and underestimated what this can do." He raised his right hand to show off the metal covering the entirety of it. "Besides, this is an offer from Ozpin himself. I doubt anyone will underestimate someone Ozpin is giving a chance to…unless they're idiots."

Blake gave out a tiny laugh, "There is one team of such idiots in my year. But I doubt Ozpin would make you fight them. It'd be too easy."

"Damn, just my luck." Jaune said with fake disappointment. He then looked down to see that Blake was still holding his hand. He looked up at her questioningly and that had her tilt her head in confusion. That was when she looked down and noticed the same thing. It took her a second but she quickly released him.

She looked to the side sheepishly as she did that, "Sorry." She said quietly.

He was about to say that it was nothing but his mother's teasings from earlier came back to his mind. Making him blush, especially since he was in such close proximity to the Faunus now. 'Damn it, Mom!' he shouted in his head. He then nervously cleared his throat. "It's alright." He replied lamely. Which then made them fall into an awkward silence.

They sat like that for a minute or so until Jaune sighed, "Why are we doing this?" That made Blake look back up at him in confusion. "I mean, we fought a criminal mastermind together, for Oum's sake. Why should a little extended physical contact make us awkward?" He then gave her a grin, "It's not like we accidentally kissed or some other cliché."

She just looked at him before she giggled slightly at the obvious and kind of lame joke. Jaune joined her with a brief chuckle and the awkward silence was dispelled. They then ordered a later lunch/early dinner. After that the two just had random conversations as they waited. Blake would tell him about the professors at Beacon to better prepare him for when he got in. While he was telling her about what his parents had been up to since they arrived in Vale. Although, he made sure not to mention all the assumptions his mother was making about their relationship.

The two probably spent the better part of an hour just eating sparingly but mostly just talking. Even with Blake not being the most social of people and Jaune having to train in preparation for his initiation, neither would complain about how they spent their time. When they were done, the two split the bill and each left a tip for their waitress.

The two left the café and decided they should probably head back to their own places. Jaune smiled at her, "Thanks for the call, Blake. I honestly needed this."

She gave him a playful smirk, "What? A meal with a pretty lady?"

He just chuckled, "That is always a bonus. But what I meant was, spending some time with a friend. Been a while since I've been able to do this."

She just nodded, "Well, once you get into Beacon, you'll have more chances to."

That made Jaune's smile stretch a bit more. Her confidence in him was very heart warming. "Still a chance that I won't make it in."

She shrugged, "Than I'll be sure to come visit you more often in Vale."

"You know, I hear that if you feed a stray cat, you'll never get rid of it." He smirked at her. "That apply to you too."

Blake just narrowed her eyes at him and her grin shifted to a neutral line, "You do know how racist that is."

Jaune didn't even flinch, "Oh, incredibly. That is, if I was being racist. I'm just pushing your buttons."

Blake didn't even blink, "Do you want me to break your nose?"

Jaune gave a gasp, "You would hit a cripple?"

She shrugged, "I think you had it coming."

The two just stared at each other until they smirked and each gave a brief laugh. "Alright, I should probably get going. See you in a week or so?"

She nodded, "I'll make sure of it." With that said, the two went their separate ways with equally happy smiles on their faces.

Jaune only made it partially down the street when a voice spoke up behind, "Well, that was certainly cute."

He stopped and turned around in shock to see that it was his mother. Arms crossed and a teasing smile on her lips. Jaune blinked his eyes several times before he spoke up, "How did you even find us?"

She tilted her head slightly, "I'm your mother, I have my ways."

Jaune just facepalmed and looked down with a sigh. "We're just friends, Mom." The two then turned around and started to make their way back to Hei's place.

Alexandra just gave him a sidelong glance with her smirk still in place. "I don't know about that. You too seemed pretty flustered over that bit of hand holding."

"Mom!" he managed to groan out.

She laughed a little before he placed her hand on his upper arm. "I'm just teasing you, Jaune." He sighed slightly in resignation and continued to walk with her. "But, I do stand by what I was saying. You two looked very happy together. I honestly can't remember the last time you looked that happy." She looked back over to him but Jaune was just not looking at her. "I'm not pushing you to try and be with her, honey. All I'm saying is, you never know until you try. And if Blake decided to just be your friend and nothing more… If it makes you that happy, I have no problem with it."

The two walked in a silence until Jaune spoke up, "Thanks, Mom."

She gently patted his arm with a smile still on her lips, "That's what I'm here for."

* * *

The remaining week and a half went as quickly as the first. Jaune had prepared for this as much as he possibly could and he was as ready as he could be. He was in his room and grabbing everything he needed for his test. As he was getting dressed his eyes landed on the backpack in the corner of his room. The one that had all his Huntsman gear before he had his arm broken. He hadn't touched it since then. He smiled slightly, "Guess it's time to knock the dust off them."

He picked up the bag and did dust it off after he realized just how dirty it actually was. He placed it on his bed before diving into it to get the gear. He pulled out a pair of Hunter's boots that went just about halfway up his lower legs. On top of those, he put on a pair of white greaves that covered his legs, as well as the knees and the front of the ankle. They were originally only supposed to protect his legs but with his new aptitude for kicking, they might give them a bit of a boost and maybe not hurt as much by hitting harder targets.

He then put on a wider and a bit thicker belt with metal sown into it for a unique design. He then took out a few grenades from his suitcase sized carrying case and attached eight of them to the back of it. He then took out a white chestplate, it covered from his solar plexus up and even went over the area between his neck and shoulders. It was also designed to cover his ribs by going under his arms. He was actually shocked to find that it felt a bit lighter than when he wore it last. Maybe he put on some more muscle since then.

There were three other pieces of armor in the pack, a pauldron and two vambraces, all white as well. He only needed one vambrace considering that his right arm had the brace now. So he put on the vambrace on his left arm before he pulled the jacket he got from his cousins on top. He the strapped the pauldron onto his left shoulder. With that, all he needed was to attach Crocea Mors to his hip and looked himself in the mirror. And he couldn't argue that he actually liked how he looked.

With that, he walked out his room and towards the living room where his other five family members were sitting. He stopped at the threshold, "Well, how do I look?"

They all looked at him and his mother beat them all to the punch, "Oh my Oum, you look so much like your father when he was your age!"

His father nodded slightly, "I could see it. You look as prepared as you can be."

Jaune smiled, "Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Hei looked him over, "Nice balance between your old look and new one. You ready to kick some ass?"

Jaune nodded, "You know it. Still nervous though."

Melanie walked up to him and hugged him, "You got this, Jaune. You've been training like crazy and your more badass now than ever."

"And not to mention, if you did lose, you'd have to deal with us whipping you into better shape." Miltia said as she walked over to him with a smirk.

"Nope. Come here." Jaune demanded. Before she could do anything, his left arm wrapped around her and pulled her into the hug as well. Miltia started to struggle slightly once she was pressed against him and her twin. She didn't get the chance to escape before Melanie wrapped her arm around her as well and she was now stuck in the hug.

With a resigned sigh, which she was using to try to disguise how much she liked it, she returned the hug. "You two can be a real pain, you know that?"

Jaune chuckled, "Yup but you love us anyway." Eventually, they slowly pulled away and Jaune looked at all his family before smiling, "Well, I better get going. I can't be late for my own initiation, can I?" He got more hugs from the three adults in the room and more words of reassurance.

He turned to the door and when he was about to open it, he heard two voices overlap, "Jaune!" He turned back to his cousins, who both a thumbs up at him, "You got this!" they said in sync.

With that, he smiled more confidently, "You know it." With those words, he left the apartment. He quickly made his way to the airfield and found the bullhead that was waiting for him. After showing his ID to the pilot, he got on board and was in the air. While on the ship, Jaune just closed his eyes and tried to keep himself calm. He needed to keep his nerves in check right now. He also noticed his left hand reflexively went to rest on the pommel of his sword and the index finger of his right hand kept tapping on the seat he was sitting on.

Not long after that, the bullhead touched down and Jaune's eyes quickly opened. They slowly panned over to the door as it opened and he stood up to make his way off it. As soon as he was on solid ground, he paused just to take in the majesty of Beacon Academy for the second time but this time in the daylight. If he was honest, he didn't think he'd get tired of the view. Maybe once he was here day in and out but for now, it was still amazing.

He was pulled from his sightseeing when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned to see Glynda Goodwitch standing there and looking as professional as the last time he saw her. "Mr. Arc, good to see you made it." She looked back to her scroll, "And early too. That is a nice change."

He nodded to her with a smile, "I didn't think being late would work out well."

She nodded, "Well, you wouldn't be wrong." She had a tiny grin with those words but he saw her quickly try to hide it. "Let's get going. You need to be in the combat arena before the students arrive." She turned on her heels with that and started to walk away. Jaune quickly jogged up to keep pace with her but decided to stay a step or two behind her. As they were walking, he used this opportunity to just look over everything. Because of that, he didn't notice Goodwitch looking back at him with concern in her eyes.

They made it into the school proper and made their way to where Combat class was usual held. Jaune looked over the arena in awe for a bit before he caught up to Glynda and made it down into the arena itself. Standing there was Ozpin, cane in hand and that same small smile on his lips. "Hello, Mr. Arc. Are you ready?"

He gave his own smile, "As I'll ever be, Professor."

The headmaster nodded, "Excellent. Would you mind giving Glynda your scroll so she can add you to the system? That way we can monitor your aura properly."

Jaune did so with little issue. That was when the doors opened and many of the first years with a good chunk of second years started to file in. He saw quite a few looking down at where he was with curiosity before taking seats in the stands. Jaune looked to the Headmaster in confusion. "Uh, what is this about?"

"Oh, any time we have a unique initiation, like your own, we allow our students to watch it. It allows them to become accustom to their potential classmate." He said easily enough. "Besides, I may be older but I know how people your age act. If you just suddenly started class out of the blue, you would be constantly hounded for answers and prove to them that you deserve to be here. I'm saving you potential headaches by allowing them to see with their own eyes." He said with that same smile.

Jaune just stared at the older man for a bit, "You're a shrewd man. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

He gave a chuckle, "Many times, Mr. Arc. And usually not as politely."

Goodwitch handed him his scroll and Jaune just looked into the crowd looking for a familiar face. It took him a bit but eventually he found the black hair and amber eyes of the hidden Faunus he was looking for. She was just giving him her usual small smile while her teammates just looked at him in shock. He ignored them in favor of smiling back and giving her a lefthanded wave. She rolled her eyes jokingly before she gave a small one back.

"Good afternoon, students." Ozpin addressed the room as a whole now that they were all seated. "As you have noticed, I have a guest with us." His free hand motioned to Jaune. "This is Jaune Arc. He wishes to become a student here but to do so, he must pass an initiation similar to all of you have. So, he will be fighting one of your teams."

That got them all whispering. "Now to clarify, he will not be fighting all four fighters at once. He will have four fights consecutively. The fight will end if either opponent surrenders or is knocked out of the ring. Alternatively, if Mr. Arc can reduce his opponent's aura to half, he will win. But because of his higher levels of aura, if his opponent's drop his aura by a quarter, the match goes to them."

"Now for his opponents. Can Team RWBY prepare themselves?" Ozpin dropped the final bomb with the same small smile.

All eyes turned to RWBY as more whispers arose. All four of them were shell-shocked. No one more than Blake, who was looking down at him in shock. Jaune just gave her an apologetic smile and shrugged. The four women quickly stood up and left their seats to get their weapons. As they were getting their gear, Jaune started to stretch to warm up and try to keep himself calm. Goodwitch and Ozpin stood off to the side, where she usually stood to watch a spar, as he did this.

Eventually the team of women stepped out, now armed. They stood outside the ring for a few minutes. Whether it was talking strategy or just talking to Xiao Long, he didn't know or cared. Eventually, Goodwitch spoke up, "Team RWBY, please choose your first opponent." They looked at each other before Weiss was the one to step into the arena and walk forward with a purpose in her step. She stopped at the proper distance from him as she looked him over. Jaune doing much the same as he went over his plan to deal with the Heiress. Their aura meters appeared on the screen above them which made the whole room grow quiet. All waiting with bated breath to see what happened next.

* * *

 **A/N- My original plan was to have the Weiss and Jaune fight be the end of this chapter but I knew the chapter would get very lengthy if I did. So, I had to push it back. If everything goes smoothly, the next chapter will involve the Weiss and Blake fights while the next will have the Ruby and Yang fights. On top of that, Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh is back and was able to Beta Read this chapter. So go check him out if you haven't. And if you have, do it again. See you all in the next update!**


	10. Stress Testing- Rounds 1 & 2

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Jaune and Weiss were standing across from each other, each just observing the other and getting ready for their match. Jaune was going over his game plan in his head as she just watched him like a hawk, 'There are two ways I've seen her start her fights but both allow her to control the way the fight goes. Either she'll charge forward with the help of a Glyph for a thrust or she'll hang back and use her Glyphs to keep me back. If I can interrupt her before she can gain momentum and keep her on the defensive, I got this.'

He was pulled from his thoughts when she spoke up, "So, you're Jaune Arc?"

He raised his eyebrow, "Yup." He said with a pop to the 'p'. "What, did you hear about me from Blake?"

She nodded stiffly, "Yes but also from Yang." That caused his right hand to twitch and his eyes to narrow. She noticed that, "I'm not hear to discuss that though. I just wanted to thank you again for watching out for my teammates, now that I know you properly." She said professionally.

His other eyebrow joined the first and he chuckled, catching her off guard, "Don't worry about it. I gained a pretty good friend because of it so I'd consider doing it all over again."

That earned a small but smug grin from the Heiress, "Good to hear. But, this does not mean I will hold back against you."

Jaune gave her a confident smirk, "Oh I would hope not. That would take some of the fun outta beating you."

That made her cross her arms over her chest, "Do you know who you're talking to right now?"

"Weiss Schnee. Partner to Ruby Rose and Heiress to the SDC." He said simply before trying to throw her off some. "You use a Multi Action Dust Rapier and you usually use fire, hard-light, gravity, wind, lightning and ice Dust in the revolving chamber. You use them for their elemental effects or to use along side those Glyphs of yours. Am I right so far?"

Weiss just stared at him in shock. She did not expect him to know all of that. "How do you know all that?"

He just smirked and saw a timer appear above their aura meters to countdown before the match would begin. His left hand grabbed Crocea Mors and drew it, holding the sword in front of him in a reverse grip. As he did that, he turned his body so his left side was facing her and slid his right foot backwards a bit. His right hand went behind him to grip one of his grenades on the back of his belt, which was still hidden thanks to his jacket. "Wouldn't you like to know."

She must've realized the match would start soon, since she quickly drew her rapier and got into her stance. But Jaune had already gained a small advantage. He had shaken her confidence even for only a second. As the timer counted down, Jaune just watched her for any sign on what she would do next and as the timer was almost done, he saw it. The chamber of her rapier spun to one of the Dusts so it could be used. That made him grin.

With that, he pulled the grenade free form his belt and armed it at the same time. When the timer buzzed and signaled the match, his arm was already moving forward. His brace threw it faster than she was expecting, considering her eyes widening so much and she was still trying to form a Glyph to use her Dust with. The grenade was flying directly at her and she instinctually stopped trying to form her original Glyph and place a more average one in front of her. The Grenade hit the partially formed Glyph and exploded. That sent her skidding back a few feet and broke her concentration and Jaune used that opportunity to start to close the distance between them.

As she was regaining her footing and looking up to wear he was, he was already brining his blade down in a diagonal slash, still in a reverse grip. Weiss just managed to bring her weapon up to defend herself, the two blades screeching against each other. Once his sword was free, Jaune instantly flipped it back around and into a proper grip. That was when he quickly delivered a backhanded and upwards swing. Weiss still managed to prepare her blade and used the force of the swing to help create some distance between them.

As she landed, she switched her Dust over to fire and ignited her sword before sending a wave a fire towards him. Jaune threw himself to the side to avoid it and quickly rolled back to his feet to begin sprinting parallel to where she was. By that point, she had three smaller Glyphs floating behind her and they were firing off large icicles at him. Jaune kept running and used his blade to deflect any that would hit him. That was when he realize that he was getting close to the edge of the ring and in a good position for her to try to knock him out. He couldn't have that.

He slid to a stop and started to deflect her ice projectiles now that he was stationary. As he was defending himself; he noticed a larger Glyph appear behind her and he had a good idea on what she was going to do next. He started to send aura into his legs to help support this body as he held his sword in front of him and supported it with his right hand. No sooner than he did, he felt something slam against it and hard. He grit his teeth slightly and felt himself slide back just about a foot or so. He looked over his blade at her and she had a mix of frustration and shock on her face. Her rapier points scrapping against the broadside of his sword.

That was when he used his brace to push her sword and arm into the air, breaking their blade lock. He then stepped forward and drove his left knee into her stomach. With the air driven out of her, he slammed his foot back onto the ground before pivoting his body to connect a kick to the side of her head with his right leg. The attack made her stumble to the side and she was desperately trying to regain her breath. But she had enough instinct to use another Glyph to send her backwards and away from him until she was more composed. Good move too because of that, the tip of Jaune's sword just nicked her ribs on her retreat, instead of being a much more devastating attack.

Jaune, knowing he couldn't give her the chance, quickly charged her yet again. Weiss quickly summoned another Glyph in his path as the Dust chamber on her weapon changed again, this one being black, however. Not having a chance to avoid it, Jaune leaned in with his heavily armored left arm and as soon as he made contact with it, he was stuck in place and unable to move. Before he could even think of a way to try to escape, Weiss had gotten her breathing under control again and had her rapier back as the chamber spun once again. When she thrust forward, a small cyclone erupted from the tip and slammed into him. He was wrenched from the Glyph and was now flying directly toward the edge of the ring.

While he was flying backward, bouncing off the ground a couple of times, he quickly spun his body and drove his blade into the ring, cutting a five foot gash into it before he stopped right at the edge. He was able to hold on but saw that Weiss was walking forward and the turbulence of the cyclone increasing. 'If I don't think of something, I'll be out. I need to stop her but I can't use an aura slash or even my grenades with this wind….Oh, that is stupid but I got nothing else.'

He quickly reached back for another grenade. He armed it and dropped behind him and out of the ring. As soon as he did, he started to channel his aura to his entire back and prepared. If anyone listened close enough, over the sound of the cyclone, you could barely make out the sound of metal hitting the floor. But that was drowned out by the explosion that erupted right after and blasting Jaune forward through the wind.

Jaune could still feel the pain through his aura but he didn't let that distract him. He had to end this quick since that maneuver had him close to three-quarters of his aura and couldn't risk this match going on any further. Even the absolutely baffled look on Weiss' face wouldn't break his focus, no matter how humorous it looked right now.

He quickly spun his body in a tight twist to give his axe kick more power. He then connected his heel with the top of her head. The force caused her to collapse to the ground. He landed on the ground not long after and started to skid across it. He looked and saw her already rising on shaking arm. He leant towards her and sent aura into his legs and feet to launch himself toward her as he leaped. His brace covered hand grabbed hold of the back of her jacket and as soon as his feet met the ground, he used all the strength of the Atlesian technology to throw the Heiress from the ring.

Everyone watched in shock as Weiss Schnee was hurled unceremonially out of the ring and the speakers sounding to reiterate that point. There was a silence until Goodwitch spoke out, "Miss Schnee has been eliminated by ring out, the winner is Jaune Arc. There will be a ten minute break before the next match begins." That caused quite a few students to applauded, still shocked by what just happened but all agreeing that the potential student did well.

Jaune sighed to himself and let his body relax as he looked up to the aura meters. He was sitting at seventy-eight percent, the grenade taking a good fifteen percent by itself. Weiss' was at sixty-seven. "Damn, good thing I got that ring out or I definitely wouldn't have won that." With that, he sheathed Crocea Mors and jogged over to the edge of the ring he had thrown Weiss out at.

When he was at the edge, he saw her already on her feet and dusting off her skirt. "Are you okay?" he asked as he stepped down beside her.

She looked up at him before she huffed, "I'm fine." She crossed her arms over her chest, "I just didn't expect you to blow yourself up and out of that cyclone. Are you insane?"

He just shrugged with a small grin, "Possibly. But it was the only guarantee for me to get out of it. Although, it was costly." He pointed his thumb up to the aura meters, "If I didn't throw you out when I did, you would've won."

She looked up at the screen and she raised her eyebrows. "It was that close?"

Jaune nodded, "Yeah. Although, I couldn't really use everything I had against you." She looked back at him, "I'm fighting your entire team, I couldn't reveal everything against you. No matter how much I wanted to." He then gave her a smile, "Although, when I do get into Beacon, I wouldn't mind having a proper match. If you don't mind?"

She just looked at him before she gave him a tiny but more genuine smile, "That would be interesting and I would be hard pressed to decline. But, now that I'm aware of you more…unorthodox strategies, I won't be defeated so easily." Her smug grin was back.

He chuckled, "I look forward to it." He held his hand out to her and she looked down at it, right before she gently took it and they shook.

When she pulled her hand away, she did point out the obvious, "Although, you still need to prove yourself against the rest of my team before that can happen."

He shrugged, "I think I have a decent chance. No guarantee though but I wouldn't say no to some extra luck."

"Good luck. Trust me, you'll need it." With that said, she started to make her way around the ring to meet back up with her team.

Jaune walked to the opposite side and used the rest of the short break to get some of his stamina back and prepare for the next fight. He also noticed that Goodwitch was using her Semblance to fix the damage that had been dealt to the arena so far. He was talking out loud, although not loud enough to be heard unless you were right next to him, as he did a few stretches to keep himself loose. "I have only six grenades left, should use them as sparingly as I can. And I should stick to the fighting style I've been using for as long as I can. Along with trying to keep my shield and aura technique under wraps until I absolutely need them."

"Alright, we will now begin the next match. Team RWBY, select your next fighter." Goodwitch's voice said out loud and catching everyone's attention. Jaune took a deep breath and stepped back into the ring. He walked back over to where he started his last match. When he looked up he froze. Walking in was Blake and she did not look happy with him. "I'm in trouble." He said simply to himself.

Blake stopped across from him. She crossed her arms over her chest and was giving him a glare. He just gave her a nervous look, "Uh, hey, Blake."

She just kept glaring at him, "You _knew_ that you would have to fight my team, didn't you?"

He just gave her a sheepish look, "Yeah… Ozpin sent me a message the next morning after the whole dock fiasco."

Her foot was now tapping on the ground, "Why didn't you tell me?"

He raised his hands up as he shrugged, "How could I?" She just raised an eyebrow that just scream, 'explain'. "You were so excited that I had a chance to come to Beacon, I didn't know how you'd react if you found out it would be you and your team that I had to prove that against." He sighed and scratched the back of his head, "I didn't want you to take it easy on me. Or somehow convinced your team to. This is a test and you throwing the match wouldn't help me in the slightest."

Blake just kept staring at him until she sighed and looked down. When she looked up, she now had that tiny smile he liked to see from her. "I can see your point. And if Weiss would've found out about this before now, she would've hounded me for any information I knew about you. But you still owe me for keeping this a secret."

Jaune raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "You wanna go out for another meal with me already? Miss Belladonna, you'll make me blush at this rate?"

She just rolled her eyes with a smile, which confused many of the students watching, including her team. She shook her head, "You are such a pain." With those words the timer started to count down. She drew her katana but left her cleaver on her back for now. She then got into a combat stance. "So, guess you got some information on us since you weren't nearly as shocked about the things Weiss just used on you."

Jaune gave a small nod as he drew his own sword, still left handed. He dropped back into the same stance he used against Weiss, without grabbing one of his grenades though. "Yeah, Ozpin gave me some basics on you four and a couple of fights to look over. Like now I know your weapon is a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe and your Semblance is Shadow. But then again, I have fought with you so that was just more solidifying what I thought than giving me an advantage."

Blake nodded, "So, I guess you have some master strategies for beating all of us, huh?"

"I'd say more like key opportunities to exploit." He said before he sighed, "Except for you that is. Your fighting style, weapon and Semblance work together too well. You're not exactly a woman I can plan for."

She smirked at him, "Thanks for the compliment, Jaune, but that won't get me to go easier on you."

He smirked back, "Well, damn. There goes that strategy. Guess I'll have to wing this." He said jokingly.

The two just looked at each other with a competitive look in their eyes. The timer went off and the two charged at the other. When they were close enough, Blake made the first move by coming down with an overhead swing of her sword. Jaune raised his arm and blocked her blade with his own. At that moment, Jaune pulled his other arm back before throwing it forward for an enhanced strength punch, curtesy of his brace. It looked like it was going to hit her dead center until his fist went right through the Shadow and it faded away.

Seeing that, his eyes widened and he let instinct fuel his movements. He dropped to the ground, just in time for her katana to just miss his upper back. He landed on his hands and used his arms to push him back up, which gave the kick he aimed for her stomach an extra boost. Not expecting that, Blake couldn't use her Shadow and caught it fully. Pushing her back a bit before she stopped.

With his legs still in the air, he used them to flip himself back onto his feet. He grabbed another grenade and quickly threw it towards her. But when he was flipping, he didn't see her shift her weapon into its gun mode as a precaution. She managed to blast it while it was still in the air, leaving a smokescreen between them.

Cursing to himself, Jaune sprinted to get around the smoke since he didn't want to risk running through it. As soon as he was around it, he was assaulted by more bullets from the Faunus. A few impacted and dented his aura. Having no other option, he threw his sword into his right hand and his left arm went down to his sheathe. It attached itself onto his vambrace and he pulled it free form his belt. As it was going up, it was already deploying and was its shield form when it was in front of him, protecting him from the bullets. "Wish I could've kept this under wraps until the fight with Ruby but too bad." He muttered to himself.

Without hesitating, he started to charge forward and trusting his shield to deal with the bullets. As he was closing the distance, he peaked over and saw that Blake had pulled her arm back and about to throw her scythe at him. Seeing this as his chance, he collapsed his shield back into its sheathe form and slid forward on his knees when she threw it. She must've been aiming for the edge of his shield because it bit into his left shoulder before it bounced off his armor and taking more of his aura. Ignoring that, his left hand quickly flew up and grabbed the ribbon attached to it before she could pull it back. He pushed off the ground as he pulled on the ribbon to launch him towards her while she was pulled forward and off balance.

When he was practically on top of her, he brought his sword down but she just managed pull her cleaver free from her back and block it. Although, he knew she wouldn't be able to last long consider how much more power he had with his right arm nowadays. She effectively had two options: jump back and avoid the hit but to do that, she'd have to relinquish her grip on the other half of her weapon. Or try to tank the hit when her arm would give out, in hopes to reclaim her weapon. Either way, he could work with it.

Making her decision, Blake jumped backwards and let go of the ribbon to her weapon. Jaune finished his swing and his blade bit into the arena floor. Blake, seeing her opportunity, jumped forward with both her hands on her cleaver. She came down for another swing but Jaune managed to pull his sword free and deliver a horizontal swing. His blade hit her cleaver and sent her skidding backwards again.

Seeing her open, Jaune launched himself forward again and tried to deliver another horizontal slash. Only for it to pass through another of her Shadows. His eyes widened and quickly turned, seeing her running for the other half of her weapon. Which he dropped the ribbon of when he went to attack her. That had him cursing internally again. She quickly picked it up and started to open fire on him again. A couple of bullets hit him before he fully deployed his shield.

Not wanting to keep repeating this. Jaune moved his sword to his left hand and behind his shield. He grabbed another grenade from his belt but this time, he turned the dial to activate the timer for twenty seconds. He started to charge her again but instead of throwing her weapon like last time, she transformed it back into its katana form and prepared herself.

She was confused when he didn't lower his shield but that didn't stop her from bringing both of her weapon down on it when he was about to run her over. As soon as he felt the impact, he spun his body to the right and used his leg to sweep her feet out from under her. He continued to spin his body and tried to perform a backhand with his brace as she was still falling. But like every other time he attacked her; it was just a Shadow. He just grinned and quickly threw himself forward and into a dodge roll. As soon as he was back on his feet, he threw himself forward and slid across the ground. That's when he spun back around to face her while still crouched.

Just as he had thought, she had appeared to his unarmored side and missed her opportunity to attack him. And before she could even try to follow him, she noticed something on the ground and looked down. At her feet was one of Jaune's grenades, still counting down. He had managed to leave it where he was standing between the sweep kick and before he went for the backhand. Her eyes widened before she threw herself to the side and away from it right before it exploded.

Jaune used the distraction to collapse his shield and reattach it to his belt. He ran towards her with that and she was getting up as well. She saw him and met him halfway. Soon the two were trading blows, their three blades clashing off each other at intense speeds. Neither backed down from the exchange and each taking their fair share of attacks. It eventually came to a standstill when their blades met, her blades horizontal and parallel to each other and his vertical with his other arm bracing it.

Jaune tried to break this by trying to connect a roundhouse kick to her ribs. It landed before she could use her Semblance and rolled across the ground for a few feet. He quickly ran after her and pointed the tip of his sword at her throat, she froze and looked up at him in shock.

Jaune had won the fight. That was until Blake disappeared, shocking him. That is when he felt something wrap around his ankle and pull it out from under him. Jaune fell to the ground and before he could try to get up, he felt the cold feel of metal against the side of his neck. He froze for a second before he sighed, all tension of his body leaving him. "Alright, I give. You win, Blake."

That was when the speakers went off, signifying the end of the fight. Blake pulled her cleaver from his neck and Jaune rolled over onto his back to see his friend standing over him, placing her weapon on her back and smiling. A smile congratulating him on how well he fought. "Jaune Arc has surrendered, the winner is Blake Belladonna." Goodwitch announced. More applause erupted form the audience with that, a lot of them agreeing it was a good fight.

Blake held her hand out in front of him, "Good fight, Jaune."

Jaune took her hand as he smiled up at her, "Same to you, Blake." That's when she helped pull him back to his feet. They both looked up to the aura meters, curious on where they stood. Jaune was sitting at sixty, meaning that Blake had managed to take away eighteen percent and another seven would've been all she needed to win. Blake on the other hand was sitting at seventy percent. He had managed to take thirty but needed another twenty. Jaune sighed, "Looks like this was going to be your match unless I pulled out a miracle."

He felt her lay a hand on his shoulder and he turned back to her, "You did great, don't look down on that. If this was a full fight, I have no doubt it would've been a lot closer. I'll prove that to you once you get in." she said with a smile.

He just smiled back, "No offense, Blake , but I don't wanna fight you any time soon. Whether I pass or not. I have a feeling you'd add more meals onto what I owe you every time you won."

She just shrugged, "I though you liked eating out with a pretty girl?"

"I do but my wallet doesn't." he replied and both shared a laugh. "Wish me luck? The next two fights are going to be difficult."

She squeezed his shoulder, "I know you can do this. Just trust in yourself."

He just smiled and pulled her into a gentle hug, shocking her. "Thanks, Blake. I appreciate it." She just nodded before she gently returned it, again shocking a good chunk of the viewers. The two broke apart not long after since they were in public and had most of the students watching them. That's when they returned to their respective sides. There were still two more fights and Jaune wasn't lying when he said they would be difficult.

* * *

 **A/N- And here is the next one. One win, one lose for Jaune so let's see how well he does against the final two members of RWBY. Not much else to say on this chapter, except the amazing Beta was one and only Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh. Go check him out if you haven't because I'm going to keep saying it anyways. With that, I hoped you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update!**


	11. Stress Testing- Rounds 3 & 4

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Jaune was standing outside of the arena as Goodwitch was repairing the damage done to it once again. All the students in the seats were currently chatting with each other about what the first two matches had held and how excited they were to see the next two. This created an amount of ambient background noise. Only a single person was able to ignore it all and that was Jaune himself.

He had his eyes closed as he was thinking over what had happened so far, 'Okay, I'm sitting at one loss and one win… I'm going to have to pull out all the stops in these next two fights. Both of my opponents are going to be tough: a prodigy and _her_.' His right fist clenched subconsciously with that thought. He took a deep breath, 'Focus, Arc. This is no time to lose it, so I have to keep my emotions in check. I have four grenades and sixty percent of my aura left. Plus, the only trick still in my back pocket is my aura attack. Gotta be careful.'

"Alright, with the repairs done, we will now begin the next match. Mr. Arc and the next member of Team RWBY, please make your way to the arena." Goodwitch's voice rang out through the room and everyone slowly began to stop talking but the anticipation was still rich in the air.

Jaune took one last deep breath to center himself as he opened his eyes. "Let's get back to it." He said to himself. He then turned to the ring and started to walk towards the center. He saw that it was Ruby who was making her way over to him. He noticed early on that she seemed nervous. And not the same kind she had when the two spoke at the docks. This was different. The two stopped a good distance away from each other and she was still looking nervously away from him, "You doing okay, Ruby?"

Her eyes snapped over to him and she quickly started to speak, "Of course I'm okay. I wouldn't I be okay? I'm okay." She then giggled nervously.

He just looked at her for a bit, "This have anything to do with the history between me and your sister?"

She looked up at him in shock, "How did you know Yang was my sister?"

He shrugged, "Ozpin included it in the small amount of information he gave to me. Don't know why though." She looked a bit more on edge and he just raised his hand, "Relax." He said soothingly. "Things are complicated but I'm not holding anything against you. You and she are two separate. Besides, you were there for Blake and me at the docks, so it would be rude of me to not treat you like a friend." He smirked at her, "Unless I'm not cool enough to hang out with the girl who tried to stop Torchwick."

Ruby looked at him for a bit before she sighed, "That's a relief." She looked up at him with a smile, "Once everything was out there, I was worried on how to handle this. Especially since you and Blake are close friends, it's just nice to know not everything is a mess…" She quickly cut herself off before she kept going, "And what are you talking about? You took on Torchwick and nearly beat him! You are definitely cooler!"

He chuckled, "Thanks for the compliment." He then registered the other thing she said. "What makes you think me and Blake are so close?" he asked in curiosity.

She looked at him like he was crazy, "You hugged her." She said simply and he just raised an eyebrow. "Blake rarely accepts a hug. She lets our team do it but she hugged you back! She's done that, like, twice with us."

His other eyebrow rose and he looked past Ruby to Blake, "Really?" he asked. He saw that Blake met his eyes and blushed when she heard what the two were talking about. She then looked away quickly and that caused him to chuckle, "Thanks for the heads up. Now, you ready to do this?" he asked rhetorically. He attached his sheathed sword to his vambrace before pulling his sword free, the shield deploying simultaneously as he dropped into his original stance.

She quickly nodded and fully deployed her scythe, "I'm actually really excited. Your fights with Weiss and Blake were amazing to see!"

Jaune chuckled again, it seemed like her energy was infectious. "Thanks, hopefully I keep it going. Now, let's see what you and that scythe of yours can do." She quickly nodded seriously but her smile never left her lips.

The two waited a few more seconds until the timer hit zero and that was when Ruby charged forward. She closed the distance in a blink of an eye and was coming down with a diagonal swing with her scythe. Luckily, Jaune expected this and was able to catch its snaith on his shield by taking a step forward. Not stopping, he was still going forward with her thrust, aiming the tip of his blade for her chest. Seeing this, Ruby quickly used Petal Burst to get away and create distance between them. Jaune kept an eye on the cloud of rose petals and when he had a good idea on where she would rematerialize, he took off sprinting towards that area.

Ruby materialized a couple feet from the edge of the ring and had her weapon in its sniper form. She then started to fire at the charging swordsman. Jaune made sure to keep his shield in front of him the entire time he ran, each bullet impacting would jar his arm. He grit his teeth every time, 'Damn. Wasn't kidding about the high-impact part.' He reached back and pulled free another of his trusty grenades, arming it before he threw it with the help of his brace.

The grenade went flying uninterrupted and slammed into the ground a foot or so in front of Ruby. The explosion kicked up a lot of smoke but Jaune kept his eyes trained for any sign of the reaper. That's when he saw the cloud of petals erupt from the smoke and race around the arena. He sighed, "Guess it wouldn't be that simply." A part of him was hoping the explosion would knock he rout of the ring but he knew it was very unlikely.

He kept his eyes trained on the rose petals, not losing them for a second. She rematerialized on his right and went for a horizontal swing. He managed to spin his body to place his shield between the weapon and himself. He felt the blade screech off as she spun her weapon like it was weightless before going for a diagonal swing this time. Jaune dug in and started to use both his shield and sword to deflect the weapon away from himself.

This eventually paid off when she went for another horizontal swing. He put enough of his weight into his shield to stop the attack. But at that moment where Ruby was expecting resistance from it, Jaune flipped over her weapon. With her off balance, she could do little when Jaune landed a kick to her jaw, using his shield arm to brace himself on her weapon to do so.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, he rushed forward to deliver a series of slashes to her. He only delivered two of his sword swings before she was able to get her weapon up to protect herself. She jumped back before he could alter his strategy and as she did, she pulled her scythe back to face the other direction. When she was back on the ground, she fired a shot directly behind her and the recoil threw her forward directly towards him.

Jaune had no time to raise his shield for protection so he had to raised his sword to defend himself. When she was halfway to him, she fired a second time at the ground to throw herself into the air. That also added more momentum to her swing. Jaune managed to catch the scythe blade before it could bite into him but it did cause him to slide backwards across the arena. When he looked back up to her, she had her scythe blade in the ground and she had her sights trained on him. A bullet was fired before he could raise his shield and it slammed into his chest plate.

He grunted in pain but still managed to raise his shield to prevent any more damage. He felt each one of her bullets impacting and he needed to do something to turn the tide or else. He stabbed Crocea Mors into the ground before reaching back for another of his grenades. He set the timer for five seconds before dropping it to the ground. That is when he kicked it across the ground. When Ruby saw it, it was halfway between them and exploded into another smokescreen.

She pulled Crescent Rose from the ground but kept it in hand. Her eyes kept looking around to see where Jaune would run from. She didn't think he'd run through it since it would give her an advantage to fire at him as soon as he did.

So, imagine her surprise when Jaune did exactly what she thought he wouldn't do. He ran through the smokescreen and his shield was back on his belt as a sheathe. She got over her shock quickly before she raised her sights back on her opponent but by that point, he was already swinging his sword upwards from behind himself. What did get her attention was that the blade was glowing white. As soon as his swing was complete, an aura blade was released directly at Ruby, the arena being sliced into from it.

Seeing that, Ruby quickly used her Semblance again to get out of the way of the aura attack. Jaune was hoping for that, well, if his attack didn't land in the first place. He didn't stop running but now he was running towards the cloud of rose petals, which changed their trajectory to head directly towards him. Ruby rematerialized in front of him and swung her weapon at him once again.

Deciding to take a chance, Jaune stepped into the attack. Jaune grunted as he felt the snaith of her weapon slam into his armored ribs, he just barely missed her blade. As soon as he felt the weapon hit, he dug in and used his weight to stop the attack from throwing him away. He quickly wrapped his left arm around Crescent Rose to make sure she couldn't pull it away. With that, he threw his right fist towards the shocked Huntress-in-Training. His metallic fist slammed into her chest with enough force to make her release her weapon and go flying back. She slid across the ground before finally coming to a stop close to the center of the ring.

Not wanting to take any chances, he tossed her weapon from the ring entirely before running back at her, blade at the ready. Ruby, by this point, had finally managed to get back to her feet. The look of shock on her face from Jaune tossing her weapon away would've been hilarious if he wasn't so focused on finishing this. He got close enough to swing at her but she used her semblance, yet again, to maneuver away from his blade and get behind him. As soon as he did, she drove her fist into his stomach as hard as she could.

That caused Jaune to stop. 'I barely felt that through my aura.' He thought to himself. He just stood there and looked down at Ruby with his eyebrow raised. Ruby was just looking up at him, shocked that her attack did virtually nothing. After the two stared at each other for several seconds, Ruby slowly removed her fist from his stomach before looking away in embarrassment with a blush on her cheeks. "I guess you have no training in hand-to-hand?" He asked rhetorically. Her blush seemed to deepen at his words. "You give up?" he asked.

She looked up just enough to make eye contact, "Yeah."

After a few seconds, the speakers sounded off, "Ruby Rose has forfeited, the winner is Jaune Arc." Jaune looked up at the aura meters to see where they were at. His sixty percent had gone down to forty-two. 'The aura attack cost me at least five percent, so Ruby managed to take away thirteen percent." He then looked at her aura at eighty, 'And I managed to take away twenty. If I didn't take her weapon away, she probably would've won this. Her long range and Semblance really are a difficult combo to deal with.'

He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt Ruby blast past him with her Semblance again. He watched her go outside the ring before she picked up her weapon and held it close. Jaune walked over to join her after he sheathed his weapon. He could hear her as he got closer, "My poor Sweetheart, I'm sorry I let you go. I'll never do it again."

He scratched the back of his head after hearing that, "Sorry about that. I just had to get your weapon away from you if I wanted to win."

She looked up at him, "I get it. Still sucks that you threw her aside like that, but I get it." She collapsed her weapon and placed on the back of her belt, "I totally didn't think you'd do something as nuts as trying to catch my weapon."

He shrugged slightly, "Honestly, it was all I could think of. If I didn't do that, I probably would've lost. Those bullets have quite a punch to them and I was having a hard time actually hitting you."

She looked prideful, "Thank you. Good fight. I really can't wait for you to start going here now!" she said in excitement.

He smiled at her, "Still have one fight to get through before that can be decided."

"Yeah. Right…" she said in a lackluster tone as she looked down. Her fingers were fidgeting as she kept looking down and Jaune had no idea on what to say to her. She then slowly looked up at him and gave him a small smile, "Good luck. I really hope you get in."

He just smiled back at her, "Thanks, Ruby. I appreciate that." With that, the two went back to either side of the ring to wait for the last match. He saw Goodwitch repairing the arena and she had a look of annoyance on her face. Which was understandable since this was the third time she had to do so within an hour. He decided to give her a wide birth as he went back to his side of the ring to wait.

As he was walking over, he felt eyes on himself. Well, beyond the several dozen pairs that were looking at him from the stands. He looked to the side of the ring opposite of the stands and Ozpin was just observing him. The two just looked at each other for a few seconds, Ozpin seemingly analyzing him while he just looked at the Headmaster in confusion. Eventually, the older man smiled and him before turning his attention to his scroll. Jaune just shook his head before he got back to his side of the ring. That is when he tried to get his head on straight; especially with what fight was coming up.

Whether this was some sort of irony or some ploy set up by the Professors, it seemed too predetermined. It felt almost unreal. Yang Xiao Long was the reason why he didn't start the year off with all the other first years. She was the reason why his arm was ruined. Why he has to wear his brace. And now, he had to beat her to get into Beacon. This wasn't just proof of his skill but proof that he wasn't the same person he was before. The guy that was broken.

"We will now begin the last match. Mr. Arc and Miss Xiao Long, please make your way to the arena." Goodwitch's voice sounded out from around the area. Jaune snapped out of his thoughts with that. He was stuck in his own head for a while there, he didn't even realize just how much time had passed.

He took one deep breath and walked into the ring. As he was walking to the center; he couldn't stop his eyes from looking over to his opponent. She was walking in slowly, almost hesitantly. She just seemed tense and she seemed to be having a hard time looking at him. He probably would've registered all of this but he was too focused on the coming fight and not his opponent.

The two stopped and just kept looking at each other. Jaune's face was stony while Yang was nervous. She swallowed hard as the tension between them seemed to just grow more and more. Unlike the other fights, there was no conversation between the two. Jaune had nothing to say while Yang just couldn't get any words out. The rest of her team just looked on in concern along with the professors close by but they were primed and ready in case anything went wrong. The tension seemed to spread to the stands as well and the audience was murmuring to each other about the strange feeling.

Goodwitch set the timer to start counting down. As soon as she did, Jaune drew his sword and deployed his shield before dropping into his older stance. This caused Yang to tense up even more as it was the exact stance he used when they fought all those months ago. She practically froze until his voice sounded out, not loud but even, "What are you doing? Get ready."

That snapped her out of it and she deployed her weapon and reluctantly got into her combat stance. She took a shaky breath to try to calm her nerves but it had no effect. "I don't want to do this…" she said quietly and unintentionally.

She was close enough to him for Jaune to hear her easily, "We all have to do things we don't want to." He said evenly again. Hesitant and remorseful lilac met cold and distant blue with that. It took only a few more second before the timer went off.

With that, Jaune charged forward and started to deliver a series of sword swings. Yang managed to divert each one by deflecting the blade off her gauntlets. Despite her reluctance, her body reacted and did what it was trained to do: fight. On reflex, she deflected another of his swings and threw her right fist forward but it was caught on his shield. The force of the hit did still cause him to slide back a few feet but Jaune used this to his advantage to get some distance.

As he was sliding back, he grabbed the first of his last two grenades with his right hand. He tossed it to his other hand, hiding all of this with his shield. He peaked over his shield but was surprise that she didn't try to close the distance to capitalize. He just pushed the thought away before he charged at her, his shield still positioned in front of him.

Yang saw him coming but didn't want him to get closer to her and not just because she didn't want him to attack her. She started to throw her fists forward and fired from Ember Celica. Some of her shots slammed into his shield face but the rest just flew over top of him. He didn't let that deter him so he kept running until he was close enough to leap and shield bash her. Yang managed to position her right arm to catch the shield and stop the attack. That gave him the opportunity to raise his shield arm and that let him open Yang's guard up enough to hit her with a swing with his brace putting more power behind it.

The attack caught her in the stomach and the force behind it had her sliding backwards. With her still preoccupied with that, Jaune condensed his shield before arming the grenade in his left hand to throw it at her. All Yang did was cross her arms in front of her chest and face as the explosive hit the ground in front of her. The explosion that followed threw her further back and took more of her aura away.

He watched her slowly come to a stop a few feet away from the edge of the ring but she made no effort to move. She just stood there with her arms crossed and breathing deeply. She just lowered her arms just enough to look at him but made no effort to prepare to fight. Jaune just stared at her and lowered his weapons just a bit, "You're supposed to be fighting back." He told her.

"I don't want to fight you though." She said out loud. "I don't want to do this."

Hearing that, Jaune just looked down and grit his teeth slightly. Both his hands shaking and the weapons they held all the same. This would be pointless if she didn't fight back. It wouldn't prove anything to Ozpin or himself. He then remembered the incident that caused his arm to break and he got an idea. A stupid and desperate idea. But he had no other choice.

He just leveled an even stare at her, "So be it." That was all he said as he collapsed his shield and reattached it to his belt. He moved his sword to his left hand and charged towards her. Yang re-enacted her previous strategy and started to fire at him again. This time, Jaune just weaved in and out of the projectiles. When he was close to her, he started to slash at her with much quicker but less powerful slashes. Yang was just able to deflect them with only one or two just nicking her and doing very little damage. The assault did make her keep backing up but Jaune made sure to direct her away from the edge.

Once Yang was further away from the edge, Jaune wiped his leg out and caught her in the lower leg with a kick. It didn't send her to the ground but it did knock her off balance. When she tried to regain her balance, Jaune spun his body like a corkscrew to land a roundhouse kick to her chin. The kick forced her to spin around since she was off balance and that was when Jaune reached out with his right hand and grabbed her hair.

Everyone in the stands, her team, the professors and even Yang froze. That was when Jaune raised his sword and sliced off a few inches of her hair. As soon as he did that, he jumped back towards the center of the ring. Yang slowly turned to him, still staring in shock. Jaune just kept eye contact with her and raised his right hand to show the locks of her hair that he had cut off. Her eyes slowly went to look at them and that was when he opened his hand to drop them to the ground.

Yang just watched as her hair slowly fell to the ground. She started to breathe unevenly and everything seemed to just fall away. And soon the anger she had been learning to control since she enrolled in Beacon slipped from her. She looked back at him, eyes crimson and hair shining gold. With a shout of fury, she launched herself towards her opponent with her right fist cocked back.

Jaune raised his sword so the broadside was facing her and braced it with his right hand, preparing the best he could for the attack. As Yang was flying and getting closer to her target, her mind flashed back. It went back to her nightmares. To the day she crossed the line. The Jaune in front of her was replaced with the broken man she had created before Beacon. Her eyes widened in shock and the world came back to her. She was nearly on top of him and her fist was already flying forward. And she could do nothing about it.

Her fist slammed into his sword and sent him backwards at a force few could create. Jaune flew and landed back first on the ground, the impact knocking his sword from his hand and sheathe from his belt. He bounced off the ground and into the air but that let Jaune flip and landed in a crouch as he was sliding backwards. To help slow himself down, he drove his braced hand into the arena floor and tearing it up as he kept sliding. He stopped a few feet away from the edge and was starting to breathe deeply.

'It took a good chunk of aura but that hit was the real deal.' He thought to himself as he looked up at the aura meters. He was sitting at thirty-three percent; her Semblance enhanced punch had taken nine percent of it in one go. She was sitting at seventy-five from the attacks he managed to deal to her. 'Looks like the fight will actually get started.'

He looked back up but Yang was still standing where she had initially punched him. She hair and eyes were still the same but she was just staring ta him in shock. Or was it panic? She then spoke up, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." She took a step forward with her hand raised, "Let's stop this. I don't want to hurt you."

'I don't want to hurt you.' Those words just kept playing in his head as he looked down. They kept playing over and over and as they did, his anger started to rise. The anger he thought her had got over long ago was rising again with a vengeance. He grit his teeth and his whole body started to shake. "You don't want to hurt me?" he asked out loud.

Before she could offer a rebuttal, a bright white light erupted from his body. It was so intense, it nearly blinded everyone in the arena. When they could all see again, Jaune was already starting to rise from his crouch and his white aura was surging around him like a fire. That stunned quite a few of the people there, they had rarely seen anyone's aura act like that.

Jaune looked up and glared at Yang, she flinched back like she was hit. "I don't need your pity!" He shouted at her. "I'm not some victim that needs it! You hear me! I'm no one's victim." His aura seemed to calm down and instead of flames, it just covered his whole body in white outline. "Not anymore." He said simply but seriously.

Before anyone knew what happened, he stepped forward. As soon as he did, he vanished from sight and where he once stood was spiderwebbed and destroyed. He reappeared to Yang's left and as she turned, she was met with a right handed punch that sent her sliding across the arena and out of it, slamming into the far wall.

Everyone was shocked that she was taken out so easily. While Jaune just stood in the arena and was staring at her. The speakers went off and the white outline of aura vanished from him. Goodwitch's voice then came out over the speaker, "Yang Xiao Long has been eliminated by ring out. However, Mr. Arc's aura has dropped below his aura limit. This match is a draw.

Jaune looked at her in shock before turning to the aura meters. Yang was sitting at thirty-five percent. Whatever that was e just did, plus his brace empowered punch had taken forty percent of her aura in one hit. He then looked at his own and it just floored him. He only had thirteen percent. Whatever he did, it had burned up twenty percent of his aura in one shot.

He just kept staring, not sure on what just happened or what this meant for him. He came back to his sense when he heard someone walk up to him. He turned to find that it was Ozpin. "Very well done, Mr. Arc. But I'd like you to come with me. We have a few things to discuss."

After a few seconds, Jaune nodded. Ozpin escorted him out of the arena but he couldn't help looking back to see Yang being checked on by her team. She managed to look up at him and their eyes met for a few seconds. It was Jaune that turned away, not entirely sure on what to make of this. Of any of it. Not anymore.


	12. Evaluation

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Jaune was following Professor Ozpin back to his office after completing his matches against team RWBY. His ending results were: two wins, one lose and one draw. He wasn't entirely sure on if that would be good enough to get him into Beacon or not. But right now, that was the last thing on his mind. That last fight with Xiao Long, it didn't make anything better. But it wasn't worse either. So he was just confused on what he actually wanted in that fight.

Was he trying to prove to himself and her that he wasn't the same person that was broken all those months ago? Was that it? Trying to prove he had come out of that situation stronger than before? Or was that him trying to get some sort of petty revenge against her? Honestly, he wasn't sure of anything about that fight. It had happened. And now he wasn't sure on what it meant for him going forward.

He closed his eyes and sighed to himself. "A lot on your mind, Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked from in front of him. He looked back up and now realized they were in the elevator up to his office. Ozpin was looking over his shoulder at him as he waited for a response.

'I was more in my head than I thought.' Jaune thought to himself. He shook his head a bit before answering, "Yeah. It looks that way, Professor."

Ozpin just grinned at him as he turned back to the elevator door. "Well, we'll have some time to discuss it. That is, if you want to." The elevator came to a stop and opened up at Ozpin's office. The Headmaster walked out first followed by Jaune a few steps behind him. "Would you like some coffee?"

Jaune thought about it for a second before nodding, "That sounds perfect right now, Professor." The Headmaster just nodded before filling two different mugs with coffee and handing one to Jaune. He took it with a smile, "Thank you."

When Ozpin filled his own, he sat down at his desk while Jaune took the seat opposite of him. Ozpin took a hearty sip from his mug as Jaune just brought his own up to his face to take a deep breath of the aroma since he would prefer it to cool just a bit before drinking it. "So, Mr. Arc, that was quite the display of skill you showed. Before I tell you whether you've passed or not, how do you think you did?"

Jaune was not expecting that question but he saw that Ozpin was genuinely curious on what he thought. So, he did think it over before he started to speak, "Well, I didn't do as well as I was hoping. I wasn't expecting to win them all, I'm not that skilled. But I was hoping to at least get three to better my odds." He took a sip of his coffee before continuing, "So, having a draw instead of two losses probably helps my odds a bit more." He shrugged with a small, nervous grin, "I honestly could see you leaning either way."

"You don't see too upset over that." Ozpin said as he looked over his mug at his potential student. "I would think you'd be fretting more over this whole situation."

He sighed, "Honestly, I'd be pretty disappointed if I didn't make it in. But I did the best I could with what I had and I can take pride in that." He had a more genuine smile. "Plus, it wouldn't be the end of my dream. I could always apply next year and try again. I'll keep trying until I make it. So, you do what you feel is right, Headmaster. I won't be disheartened either way."

The two just looked at each other for a while before a grin stretched across Ozpin's face, "Well, you won't have to worry about trying again next year, Mr. Arc. I am glad to say that you have passed your test."

Jaune's eyes widened slightly, "I passed?" he asked in disbelief. He had heard the Headmaster right but it was just hard to actually believe the reality of it all.

"You passed, Mr. Arc. And to clarify something you may've misinterpreted; you didn't have to win those fights to pass your test. This was all about you showing your skills and your way of adapting to new situations. It was entirely possible that you could've lost every fight but still pass. Just as it was possible for you to win every fight and fail." Ozpin said with a small grin.

Jaune just stared at him in a slack jaw manner. "If that was the case, why didn't you tell me that sooner?"

"I've found some people become more driven when they are in a more win/lose scenario." Ozpin said as he took another sip of his coffee. "And you thinking that losing would ruin your chances to come to my school pushed you to train hard and prepare accordingly. It made you incapable of holding back and giving myself and Glynda a full look at your potential as a Huntsman."

"Damn…" Jaune said as he just took in everything his Headmaster had just told him. It appeared that the Headmaster could be quite manipulative when he wanted to. He would have to make note of that going forward.

"It was impressive to see you fully exploit Miss Rose and Miss Schnee's weaknesses to turn the matches to your favor." Ozpin continued. "Especially, considering I only sent you two fight of theirs."

Jaune took a sip from his own coffee before answering, "Well, I noticed that Weiss rarely ever engaged her opponent's with her weapon. She only did so when they were overwhelmed by her Semblance and Dust. So, I just thought if I could stop her from fully using either, I could win. For Ruby…" he shrugged, "She is just a menace in the ring with that scythe. It was going to be hell to try to beat her while she still had it. Although, I had no idea she had literally no skills in hand-to-hand though. That was a surprise."

Ozpin nodded, "Yes I know. They are both set in their ways and it is hard to get through to them on occasions. But with you exploiting those flaws and winning because of them, that may give them the push to change that."

"Was that another reason why you wanted me to fight them?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew it could've been a possibility. I was more expecting them to be more dedicated to their training if they lost and Glynda could bring those flaws to their attention. I thank you for saving her some time." Ozpin smirked.

Jaune just shook his head slightly, "You can be a shrewd man, Professor."

That got a laugh from the other man, "I've been called worse so I'll take that as a compliment. But moving on, did you really have no strategy to beat Miss Belladonna?"

"No I did, sir. I just couldn't use it with how the fight was set up." Jaune stated and Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "With the limit on how much aura I could lose, the strategy wouldn't work. It would only work on a proper match. So the only thing I could do was try to take advantage of any opening I saw."

He nodded, "I see. And it had nothing to do with your relationship with her and holding back, would it?"

Jaune nearly did a spit take with his coffee. Luckily, he was able to stop himself from doing something that embarrassing. That didn't stop him from choking on it though, "What is with everyone thinking I have a thing for Blake?" He asked in a raspy voice as he coughed right after speaking.

"I wasn't suggesting anything of the kind, Mr. Arc. I was referring to you two having a brief but trusting friendship." Jaune slowly looked back up to the Headmaster and saw he was being completely serious. "Now seeing your reaction, however, I would think that maybe you do have some blossoming feelings for her." That made Jaune start to blush, "Ah, to be young and in love." He finished with a smirk.

The blonde just ran his hand down his face with a sigh, "Damn it."

"And finally, your fight with Miss Xiao Long." With that, a tense silence came to the room. Jaune just looked down at his half finished coffee. "You took many risks in that fight and most didn't seem like they would help you. It was more like you were trying to get a reaction from her. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong." He closed his eyes, "I had a strategy in mind for her. But as soon as I stood in that ring with her… as soon as I saw her…" He shrugged, "I don't know." He opened his eyes and placed his mug of coffee on his desk before resting his arms on his thighs. He just looked down at the ground. "I was angry with her when all this happened but I thought I put it behind me months ago. But it all just came right back." He shook his head, "I just don't understand."

"I think I know what happened, Mr. Arc." Jaune slowly looked up to see that the older man had placed his own mug down and had his hands on his desk. "This entire time, you've been trying to be the better person and move on from this whole situation. The problem with that was you never processed your anger properly. You just kept pushing it to the side and burying it. So as soon as you came face to face with the object of your anger, it just came back to the surface and out of your control."

There was just an extended silence before Jaune spoke up weakly, "I'm pretty sure you're right about that."

"Glynda and I had the suspicion that was the case. That was the main purpose of having you two fight against one another. That way you two couldn't just run or avoid your problem but being confronted with them." There was just a silence when Ozpin finished. It kept up for a few minutes before the man spoke up again, "Jaune, please talk to me. It will be the only way to move forward and I have experience with this field."

Jaune was quiet for a bit but eventually, he did speak up. "She came to the hospital to apologize to me. Did you know that?" When he didn't get a response he continued, "I don't know whether she genuinely regretted what she did to me or if she was just trying to save face after everything that happened. I was just _so_ angry and in pain. I just assumed her regret was pity and that just made me even angrier."

He looked down at his brace as he continued, "Waiting for my cast to come off. Going through my physical therapy. Retraining myself to fight again. All of that frustration just fed my anger at her but I didn't want to deal with it. What good would it do? It wasn't going to fix my arm and It wasn't going to get me back into shape any quicker."

His brace covered hand became a fist and was shaking, "That's what my thinking was for the longest time. But what gave her the right to hurt me? To _break_ me. I spent my entire life training to be a Huntsman and she took it all away. Someone that wanted to be a Huntress. Why did it have to be me to lose everything? Why was _she_ able to keep reaching for her dream?! Someone who used her training for her gain! Instead of using it to protect people like she was supposed to! And she had the nerve to look down on me with pity!" At the end he was shouting and he didn't even realize it.

He was just looking down and panting to try to regain his breath. "I left that decision up to you. I just don't understand _why_ you still let her in." That last part was barely a whisper but Ozpin heard him all the same.

Ozpin waited a bit for Jaune's breathing to even out and for his emotions to settle before he spoke up, "When I received the letter from your Uncle, I wasn't sure on whether or not I should allow Miss Xiao Long to be at this school. I decided to air on the side of caution and allowed her to stay on very strict stipulations. Do you know what they are?"

When Jaune just shook his head, he continued. "She is not allow to leave Beacon's grounds unless I specifically allow her to. She has weekly Anger Management sessions with Glynda that she must attend. Finally, she is on probation and if she shows she does not belong here, or if she breaks either of the first two stipulations, she will be expelled."

"I guess she's been on her best behavior then." Jaune said with a bitter tone.

"She has." Ozpin agreed. "But it isn't just because she will be expelled otherwise." Jaune looked back up to him. "She is trying to better herself. She is putting a great deal of effort to never cross that line again. And she has made great leaps in doing so. Except in one field."

"What would that be?" Jaune asked, less out of curiosity and more because he had a feeling that the Headmaster was expecting him to do so.

"She has trouble bringing herself to fight against other people." That made the new student raise his eyebrow. "In the beginning of the year, she could barely bring herself to fight any of the students. She slowly grew past that block but she can no longer bring herself to use her Semblance. Do you know why?" He shook his head, "Because every time she does, she sees you in her opponent's place."

Jaune's eyes widened, not expecting that at all. "What?"

He sighed, "Yang is haunted by what she did to you. And that is translating directly to her Semblance. It's so bad that she freezes up every time her Semblance does activate. Today was the first time she has used it in a fight her entire time here. And I'm sure it only happened because she couldn't stop herself before it was too late."

Jaune slowly looked down, trying to process everything he had just heard. "That's the reason she didn't want to fight me. Isn't it?"

Ozpin nodded, "That is the case." A silence settled into the room once again. "Mr. Arc." He said gently and he slowly looked back towards the Headmaster. He had a softer look in his eyes. "What happened to you was terrible and you've been struggling to move forward from it. But so has, Miss Xiao Long. She made a mistake. A grave mistake but a mistake all the same. And she has been trying to live with that, just as much as you've been trying to. But the only way you two can truly move on from this, is to confront each other and talk."

"I…" Jaune started but stopped to swallow. His throat felt very dry all of a sudden. "I don't know if I can do that. At least… not yet."

Ozpin nodded, "I'm not expecting you to. I'm just hoping with your time here, you will eventually be able to take that step. For both your sakes."

He just kept looking at the older man as he was trying to come to terms with what he was told. He wanted to move on from this. He wanted to get better. But being in the same room as her to do so? That would be impossible, especially considering how he acted during their fight. But maybe in time, he could. There was a chance. A miniscule chance but a chance all the same. He took a deep breath, "I'll try my best. But I don't know if that'll ever happen, Professor."

Ozpin just nodded, "I understand and all I ask is that you try to move forward. Can you do that for me?" Jaune nodded and Ozpin smiled, "And if you ever need to talk about anything, my door is always open to you."

Jaune gained a small but genuine smile, "I would appreciate that. I really would."

"Excellent. Onto the other topic I had in mind, was that the first time you've ever used your Semblance?" he inquired.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah. Honestly, I'm not sure on what happened or how I did it."

"That is quite alright. Most people don't fully grasp their Semblances at first. It takes a bit of trial and error before they understand the basics of their abilities." Ozpin sipped more of his coffee before bringing up the recorded aura readings from the fight on his desk. "As far as I could tell, your aura activated before you cleared the distance between you and Miss Xiao Long. You then hit her hard enough to knock her from the ring. But your aura was drained considerably. So, your aura must somehow be used to enhance your physical attributes. To what extent, we won't be bale to tell just yet."

Jaune nodded his head as the thought it all over, "Should I try recreating what happened and experiment with it?"

Ozpin hummed to himself, "You could but that could pose some dangers to yourself." That made him deflate slightly. "Don't worry too much. Once you start attending Beacon, we could have Glynda help you with further developing it. She is a specialist with helping others with their Semblances and has no problem with helping others with her knowledge."

Jaune gained an excited look in his eyes, "That would be great, Professor."

"Good to hear. Now the only thing is figuring out about your actual attendance to Beacon." Ozpin brought up his holo-screen and started to type on it. "The semester will end at the end of this week. If it works for you, I would like you to have your affairs in order and be here by then. During the break, the Professors will help you catch up on everything you've missed from the last semester so you will be on the same standing as the rest of your year."

Jaune nodded, "That sounds great. I'll use the next few days to pack and say my goodbyes to my family. But, um, there is one other thing I was curious about."

"What would that be?" Ozpin asked as he lowered the screen after inputting Jaune's information into Beacon's systems.

"Would I be a solo hunter when I start here?" he asked. He knew that students were usually placed in teams of four and with him joining in the middle of the year, that would lower his chances of actually getting a team.

"Well, that would be up to you, Mr. Arc." Ozpin told him. "You could very well stay off a team or there is a single team in your year that needs a new member." That earned him a shocked expression from the student. He nodded, "Their last member dropped out about halfway through the semester. I could assign you to them as an interim member and if all four of you are happy with the new arrangement, I can make you the official new member. But if you're unhappy with it, we will stay with the status quo."

Jaune said with a smile. As much as he knew he could fight well on his own, having a team sounded pretty good. He wouldn't be sitting here now if it wasn't for Miltia, Melanie and his uncle helping him improve after his accident. He wasn't arrogant enough to think he didn't need anyone's help. At least, not anymore." That sounds like it could work."

"Excellent. I'll ask Glynda to bring them here as soon as they can. You can all get introduced and we can discuss with them what we were just talking about." Ozpin informed him as he started to type on his screen, most likely sending a message to Professor Goodwitch.

With him having some time before they showed up, Jaune took out his scroll and sent a message to his family. It told them that he was done with his test and was currently speaking with the Headmaster. He didn't want to break the news to them that he passed over a message, so he left that part out. He'd rather tell them that bit in person. He told them that he would be done soon and be coming back to Vale within the hour.

It wasn't more than ten minutes before both men heard the elevator reach the floor they were on. Ozpin looked up while Jaune had to turn around in his chair to see who it was. The doors opened to show Goodwitch stepping in with three students behind her. A shorter, orange haired girl with aqua eyes. A taller, black haired man with pink eyes. And a red haired and green eyed woman that was breath-takingly beautiful, if Jaune was being honest.

"Ah, Glynda. Thank you for bringing them." Ozpin said gratefully to his Deputy Headmistress.

She nodded, "It was no problem, Headmaster."

"Jaune." Ozpin turned to him. "These are the students I was telling you about: Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Pyrrha Nikos."

Jaune quickly got up and walked over to the trio that was looking like they were confused why they were there. He held his left hand out to them with a smile, "Hi, I'm Jaune Arc. It's nice to meet you."

The orange hair woman was the first to grab his hand and shake it. Her grip was tight and she shook his entire arm with her enthusiasm. He had the feeling that without aura, his hand would probably be crushed. "Hi! I'm Nora! That's Ren and that's Pyrrha!" she said as she pointed at the two. Ren nodded his head and Pyrrha raised her hand in a wave.

"We saw your fights with Team RWBY! They were awesome! And so were you! You schooled Ruby and Weiss and you've never fought them before! And you did great against Blake and don't worry, most people have trouble fighting her! And that last move you did against Yang! Holy cow! Awesome!" She rattled off in excitement but Jaune was able to get the gist of what she was saying.

"Nice to meet you and thank you for that. Now, can I have my hand back?" Jaune said with a smirk as Nora still had a grip on his hand.

"Whoops! Sorry." She said with a sheepish giggle.

Ren stepped forward and offered his own hand, "Please excuse Nora. She can get excited sometimes."

Jaune just waved it off as he shook Ren's hand, "It's fine really. I have a _lot_ of sisters, so this isn't too much for me."

Pyrrha stepped forward, "Like Nora said it's a pleasure to meet you." She held her hand out to him.

Jaune smiled back and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you." He then tilted his head slightly, "Have I seen you somewhere before?" He asked her and he barely noticed that she seemed to stiffen up. "Weren't you on a cereal box not too long ago? Pumpkin Pete's?"

She opened her mouth slightly but no words came out for a few seconds. "Is that really all you know about me?"

He looked up in thought for a bit, "I think so. Why? Are you famous?"

She just stared at Jaune in shock as he just kept looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Nora came up to him with a giant smile, "She acted that way when we didn't know who she was either. Apparently she was a _huge_ deal in Mistral. Won a lot of tournaments and was top of her class at her old school."

Jaune's eyes widened slightly, "Oh, um, sorry about not knowing you then." He started to scratch the back of his head nervously. "I spent a lot of my time either training or helping out my family. Really didn't keep up with stuff like that."

"No!" Pyrrha shouted, making nearly everyone jump back. She cleared her throat with a mild blush on her cheeks from embarrassment, "Sorry about that. But it's fine. It's like a breath of fresh air to meet someone that doesn't know about my accomplishments."

He just gave her a small grin, "Well, glad I could help. I guess."

"Well, it's good to see you are all getting along so far." Ozpin said from his desk. The four turned to him and saw him giving them a small grin as Goodwitch looekd on in interest. They all looked embarrassed about forgetting about the two professors.

Pyrrha cleared her throat, "I apologize, Professor. Why did you call for us again?"

"It's pretty simple, Miss Nikos." He motioned to Jaune. "As you know, Mr. Arc fought against Team RWBY as a test to see if he could enroll here. He passed and will be joining us next semester. But that does leave him without a team. Since you've been down a team member, we were considering making him an interim member of your team for the time being."

That gave the three shocked expressions, "Not to be rude, Professor. But what would that entail?" Ren asked.

"Well, Mr. Ren, for the rest of the break and the first couple weeks of the next semester would be a trial period. If you can all get along and are open to the idea, Jaune will become the last member of your team. However, if things don't work out, Jaune will be made a solo hunter for the time being. If your team is okay with this arrangement, that is?" Ozpin finished.

The three looked at each other as Jaune made his opinion known to him, "If you're not okay with this, it's fine. I don't wanna make any of you uncomfortable or put off by this."

"Well, I have no problem with it!" Nora shouted as she got within his personal bubble, making him take a half a step back. "You don't seem like a bad guy or jerk. Besides, it would be cool to have someone with your awesome skills on our team!"

Ren sighed, light heartedly. "Well, Nora has made her point clear. I'm not against this either." He finished with a small smile.

Pyrrha nodded, "It would be nice to get to know you better."

Jaune just looked at them and smiled, "Well, if you're all sure?" They all nodded.

"Well, if that is the case, everything is sorted." Ozpin said as he stood from his desk. He started to walk over to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, welcome to Beacon." He offered his hand to his newest student.

Jaune looked down at the hand before he took it with an unrestrained and excited smile. "It's good to be here, sir."

* * *

 **A/N- It's been a while since I've done an Author's Note but this is a special occasion. Not too long ago, Shattered Dream, Broken Soul reached over one thousand followers. My third story overall to do so. It is still a shock and fills me with so much pride when it happens. It's proof that people actually enjoy the stories I write. So, I'd like to thank you all for your support and I hope you continue enjoying this story until its end.**


	13. Relocation

Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

The week Jaune had before he had to return to Beacon had passed quicker than he had anticipated. As soon as he had gotten back to Vale, he made his way back to his uncle's club to tell his family the good news. They were all sitting around in the living room and all turned to him at once as soon as he stepped through the door. And as soon as he told them the good news, he was tackled by his cousins and mother. All three hugging him and shouting their congratulations as he was struggling with trying to breathe properly from their show of affection.

Luckily, it wasn't overly long before he was allowed to get off the ground and to breath again. But he was then given a tight hug by both his uncle and father as they gave him a much more appropriate volume congratulation. His uncle and cousins then left to go pick up a few things for the small party they were now going to have for him. As they did that, Jaune called home to tell his sisters that he had made it. A part of him was glad that the sheer volume of their combine voices didn't break the speaker in his scroll. Along with not being there so they couldn't dogpile him into a group hug.

The next few days were filled with him making sure he had everything he needed for Beacon and spending as much time as he could with Melanie and Miltia. As much as they were happy that he had made it into Beacon after all the time and effort he put into getting back to where he was after his injury, they were going to miss having him living with them. Jaune decided to take them out to hang out or even just order them some pizzas before running through a marathon of movies so he could have more time with them. And the twins appreciated every moment of it.

Until finally, it was the day he needed to get back to Beacon. All six of them were at the airship station. He had his duffle bag and backpack, each one packed with everything he had brought to Hei's place. And the metal case he had with the grenades his uncle had ordered for him. His parents had their own luggage with them as well since they would be heading out back to their home not long after him.

Alexandra was currently hugging her son as tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes, "Good luck, sweetheart. Take care of yourself and be sure to call us when you can. You know how much I'll worry otherwise."

Jaune just smiled before her gave her a brief squeeze, "I know, Mom, and I will. I love you."

"Love you too." She said and let go of her only son a few seconds later and gently pulled him down to kiss his forehead. She took out a tissue and gently dabbed away her unshed tears.

Noah then walked up to him next and hugged him as well. "You've done great so far, Jaune. And I am so proud of you. Don't forget that me and your mother will always be here if you need us. Along with all your sisters. Got it?"

Jaune grinned before he patted his father on the back, "Got it. Thanks, Dad." The two pulled away and the older blonde walked over to his wife and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders, both looking at their son with pride and love. And Jaune was just relieved to know that the rough patch he had gone through with his parents was behind them and they could all move on to better things.

Before he could say anything else, two bodies slammed into his own and getting a grunt from him. He looked down and saw, with little surprise, that it was Melanie and Miltia hugging him tightly. He sighed goodheartedly before wrapping an arm around either of them. "Seriously? You're acting like you'll never see me again."

"We're going to miss you, okay?" Melanie said as she looked up at him. "You've been living with us for months. It's gonna be lonely with you off at Beacon now."

"And don't think you'll get away so easily." Miltia added with her usual tone but didn't look up to him. Deciding to hide her face into his chest. "We've done so much for you since the incident at the club. You owe us, big time."

He chuckled and held them close, "Trust me, I remember. And I'll be sure to stop down on occasions to see you two."

That caused them both to look up at him and ask together, "Promise?"

He kissed them both on the heads before answering, "Promise." The two let him go, regrettably, and they stood off to the side as Hei stood in front of him. The two just looked at each other with a grin on their faces, "I owe you so much, Uncle Hei." Jaune said simply.

Hei just shook his head, "You don't owe me a thing, Jaune. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. And remember. You always have a room at our place if you ever need it."

Jaune just nodded before he hugged his uncle, "Thanks. And really, thank you, Uncle Hei."

Hei just hugged him back with a smile, "Anything for my favorite nephew."

"I'm your only nephew."

"Doesn't stop you from being my favorite." Hei answered immediately. The two separated and that was when the bullhead he was waiting for landed not too far away. Jaune looked from it back to his family with an excited smile. "Looks like that's my ride." He scooped up all three of his bags before he smiled at his family. "I'll call you when I get the chance. Talk to you then."

He then quickly made his way to the bullhead. He quickly showed his ID to the pilot and he motioned him to get on. As he sat down, he looked out to see his family wave to him. He just smiled and waved back. Feeling sad for leaving them again but also excited to start the next trek of obtaining his dream.

* * *

It didn't take long for the bullhead to arrive at Beacon. Jaune smiled in excitement as he got up from his seat and grabbed his three bags and wait by the door for it to open. It eventually opened and he could now see Beacon not too far away from the airfield. He took a deep breath before walking off the bullhead and into the sunlight. The pilot got out of the bullhead around the same time, Jaune thanked him for the ride and he just nodded his head before walking off to talk to his superior.

Jaune looked around for Miss Goodwitch since she was supposed to be waiting for him to show up. That way she could show him to his dorm room and to his locker to store his weapons. When he didn't see her, he pulled out his scroll to be sure he had the right time or if he had to meet her somewhere on campus. As he did that, he quickly heard someone shouting not too far away, "Jaune!" He quickly turned to where he had heard the voice and quickly jumped back when Nora stopped just within his personal space, "You're here!"

He took a second before he smiled at his possible teammate, "I am. And so are you it looks like." He then looked over her head to see Ren and Pyrrha walking over to him as well. "You're all here? I thought I was supposed to meet with Miss Goodwitch?"

"You were." Pyrrha said with a small smile. "But we had run into her on her way here. When she told us what she was doing, we offered to show you around instead."

"Yeah!" Nora added excitedly. "Who would be better to show our new teammate around than us?"

"Possible teammate, Nora." Ren added.

"Ren…" She whined at her partner.

"I mean, that's fair." Jaune defended him making Nora look back at him with a raised eyebrow. "All things considered; I may not fit well with your team dynamic. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends if this arrangement doesn't work out." He said with an easy grin.

"But you would be such a good addition…" she whined and that caused him to chuckle.

"Anyways, should we get going?" Jaune asked. They nodded and Nora started to lead the way with Ren behind her in case she decided to do something crazy. Meanwhile, Pyrrha stepped in line besides her could-be partner. As they were walking, Pyrrha asked him why he decided to be a Huntsman and he explained about his family legacy and wanting to be just like his ancestors.

As they were walking, Jaune noticed a few of the students had seen them walking through the campus and would watch them for a bit before going back to what they were doing. He didn't bother to ask about it since he just assumed that they were simply curious about him after his fights with team RWBY. If not, well, he'd find out eventually and deal with it accordingly.

They soon brought him to the first year's dorm building and lead them to their team's dorm, "This is our room." Pyrrha said when they arrived. "And our sister team, Team RWBY, is just across the hall."

Jaune smiled with a nod, "Good to know." He said out loud before he thought to himself. 'That may complicate things. I mean, it'll be cool to see Blake more often but… That also means I could run into Yang more. Is this more of Ozpin's scheming?'

He was pulled from his thoughts when Nora threw open their door and threw her arms out in a grandiose fashion, "And here we are!" He looked in and saw four beds pressed against one wall with a few desk and an attached bathroom. "The free bed is the one closest to the bathroom." Nora added after he stepped in.

Jaune walked in and placed his duffle bag, backpack, and the metal case on his bed before he turned back to the other three. "So any rules I should know about before settling in?"

The three looked at each other before Pyrrha spoke up, "Not really. We just ask for you to knock or message us when you come back to the dorm. Just in case Nora or I are changing."

Jaune raised an eyebrow and grinned, "That all? Well, no problem here. I've already been raised to do that anyways." When he received confused expressions from the three of them he continued, "I grew up with seven sisters, so I fully know about the knocking rule." That earned him three varying shocked expressions that caused him to chuckle.

"Seven?" Pyrrha asked in shock.

Still grinning, he nodded. "Yup. And while I was staying in Vale, I was living with my uncle and two cousins. Both of which are also women. Twins in fact."

Nora just stared at him, "Wow. That must've been something to live through."

Jaune shrugged, "Sometimes but then again, that's family." He was silent for a bit before he sighed to himself. "Well, there is one last thing you need to know about and I'd rather just address the goliath in the room now than later." With that, he reached up with his left hand to slide his jacket off his right arm.

"Jaune, what are you talk-" Pyrrha stopped what she was saying and gasped once he slid the jacket off his entire right arm, showing off the shining metal of his brace. Jaune looked back to see all three staring at his arm, processing what they were seeing. "You have a prosthetic?" Pyrrha asked quietly.

Jaune just shook his head, "No, this is an Atlesian Brace. A few weeks before Beacon's last term started, I got into an… accident that shattered my arm. It took a few weeks with my aura to heal it and a few months of physical therapy to get me back into shape. But my arm isn't the same. I couldn't raise it above my head or hold my sword properly."

His eyes lowered as he raised his arm and slowly made a fist, "This brace not only protects my arm from worsening but supports it so I have full maneuverability and usage of it. And it does give it a decent strength boost. It took me a while to actually make it feel natural and to make sure I got it completely under my control." He sighed again as he looked away, "I wear it almost constantly now. I just wanted you all to know and I get it if you're a bit unnerved by it."

He turned back when he felt something grab his hand. He looked to see that one of them was holding his metal covered hand. He then looked up and was met with the emerald green eyes of Pyrrha. She gave him a reassuring smile, "I for one am _not_ uncomfortable with this, Jaune. You had something terrible happen to you and you did everything you could to move past it." She then raised the conjoined hands, "I don't see this as something taboo but as a badge of honor."

Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ren, "Everyone has scars. Physical or emotional. But they are what define us. They push us to overcome what has happened to us. Take pride in how far you've come."

"Yeah." Nora said as she stood beside her team, "In one semester, you got to be back at the level needed to be at Bacon. Maybe now you're even stronger than back then!" She cheered with a big grin. "Besides, I think it looks awesome."

Jaune slowly looked at all three, just stunned by how accepting they were. He then gave them an honest smile, "Thanks. That… really means a lot to me." He then looked to his arm, which Nora was still staring at. "And I kinda agree with you, Nora. It is pretty badass." That made them all chuckle a bit before they eventually calmed down.

They spent the next hour or so just talking and getting to know each other more. Along with that, Jaune started to unpack his duffle bag and backpack before storing both under his new bed. The only thing left was the metal case of grenades on his bed, which had garnered Nora's attention halfway through his unpacking. "Hey, Jaune, what's in here?" she asked as she picked the case up and was shaking it to see if she could hear anything from it.

That made Jaune wince and almost sprint over to her, "Uh, Nora. Please don't to do that." He quickly reached out and but his braced hand on it to stop her from shaking it. "This holds quite a few of the grenades I used in my fight with Team RWBY. So, please stop shaking it before they go off." He said nervously before he gently pulled it from her grasp. He saw that Ren and Pyrrha went wide eyed but sighed after the case of explosives were no longer in the redhead's possession.

"Grenades!?" she shouted as she leant forward and into his personals pace again. She clasped her hands in front of her as she looked up at him with big eyes. "Can I have a few?"

He quickly looked past her to seeing Pyrrha wave her hands in front of herself while Ren just shook his head in a stern manner. Jaune got the message loud and clear. He looked back down at her, "Sorry, Nora, but I don't think so." That made her pout and he continued, "I can only get these through special ordering and it is expensive. So, I would like to hold off on ordering more for as long as possible."

That seemed to appease the shorter woman and she nodded slightly, "I get it. It's fine." Jaune still did feel a bit bad about how downtrodden she sounded.

"Why don't we bring you down to the locker rooms now?" Pyrrha said, saving him from crumbling. She walked over to them with a smile. "We can find your locker and you can store your weapons."

"That sounds like a good idea." Jaune nodded to his potential partner. And the three teammates escorted Jaune to his destination for the second time that day. It didn't take them long to get from the dorms to the locker rooms. While they were making their way there, Jaune had received a message from Goodwitch that told him which of the rocket lockers was his own and giving his scroll access to unlock it.

Once they reached the training rooms, Jaune noticed a few of the more dedicated students were working out or sparring, both with and without weapons. None of them really paid them any notice but they were all focused on what they were currently doing. The four easily made their way into the locker rooms, which was empty, and they found Jaune's new locker with only a few minutes of looking. Jaune safely deposited his grenade case at the bottom half and attached Crocea Mors to the back of the locker. Jaune closed it and locked it with his scroll before he turned back to his team. "So, now what? I'm pretty sure that is everything I need to get done right now."

"We could show you around the grounds." Ren suggested. "I don't believe you got a good look at them the last time you were here."

Jaune nodded, "That would be pretty cool. As long as you guys don't mind. It is the first day of your break after all and I don't want to monopolize your time."

"We honestly didn't have much planned. Even before you were added to our team." Pyrrha told him. "So, we don't mind showing you around in the slightest."

"Well, if you're all alright with it. Although, I think I'll have to meet up with Goodwitch later. I do have _a lot_ of work to catch up on over the break."

"How much is 'a lot'?" Nora asked.

"I have to catch up on the material I missed out on from the first semester." Jaune said with a slight frown. "So, I have to study up then take some tests before the next semester."

"Ouch, that sucks." Nora whined. "How are we supposed to bond as a team if you have all of that to do?"

"Well, I already have a good grasp on Grimm Studies. My dad taught me as much as he could about them from his own experiences. And even though I don't use Dust, I know at least the basics of it. History though, that I may be in trouble with."

"If that's the case, I could help you out with History." Pyrrha said with the polite smile Jaune had been seeing a lot so far. "I did very well in Doctor Oobleck's class last semester." She said almost bashfully.

"I won't say no to some help there." Jaune chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I've always had trouble with focusing on schoolwork. I always preferred the physical training and fighting styles, honestly."

He then grunted when he felt someone jump onto his back, feeling legs wrap around his stomach and arms around his chest. He looked over his shoulder to see that it was Nora, who was looking at him with shining eyes. "I'm the same way! See? I knew we'd be great friends." She said with a wide, mega-watt smile.

Jaune slowly turned from her back to Ren and Pyrrha. "Is this a good thing or should I be worried?" he asked with a smirk. That caused them to chuckle and Nora to pout on his back but refusing to get off. So Jaune was stuck giving her a piggyback ride as Ren and Pyrrha started to give him a tour of Beacon. With Nora adding her own unique input when she felt like it.

The tour really made this whole scenario just so much more real to him. He was really here. He was finally at Beacon. His dream school. And now, he would gain the training necessary to become a Huntsman. To be the person he always wanted to be. And even though he had just met these three, he wouldn't mind completing this journey with them if it was an option.

When they were almost done with their tour, Jaune heard a familiar voice shout at him from behind, "Guys, look! It's Jaune!" He turned around with Nora still on his back and saw that Ruby was rushing over to them with Weiss and Blake not too far behind her. She came to a stop in front of him, "You're here! That means you passed, right!?"

He nodded to her with a grin, "Yup. I am now a fully instated student here. And, for the foreseeable future, an interim member of their team." He finished as he motioned to Pyrrha, Ren and Nora.

Ruby looked excitedly at him, "That's amazing! That means you're now on our sister team."

"For now." He nodded. "Although, it isn't finalized yet. If we find that we don't work as well as we could together, I will just continue on as a solo hunter." By that point, Weiss and Blake had walked over to join their leader, "It's nice to see you all again. But aren't you missing a member?"

The three looked between each other, each having an uncomfortable look on their face. It eventually came down to Ruby to answer him, "Yang wasn't really in the mood to go out today. She stayed in the dorm."

He just nodded, not really commenting on what he heard. He asked mostly out of common curtesy but he really still wasn't sure on how to brooch this whole situation. He did look up when he heard someone clear their throat. He looked to Blake and saw she had an annoyed look on her face as she crossed her arms, "So, you knew you had passed and would be coming here since the fight?" Jaune just nodded, not sure what to say just yet. "Would you explain _why_ you didn't tell me about this sooner and I just found out _today_?"

That was when he realized just how much trouble he was in. Everyone did, since Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha and Ren all took a few steps back from the pair. Even Nora jumped off his back to join her team when she sensed the tension. He then just started to scratch his cheek nervously, "In my defense, I had to deal with my family and get everything in order before coming here. So, I was really busy." He chuckled lamely at the end.

She just glared at him with that, "Wow, Jaune. After everything we've been through, I'd think I would be a bit higher up on your priorities."

"Blake, don't be like that. You are!" Jaune said in a mad panic. "I just got really distracted and I knew I would see you in like a week. I didn't think it would be a big deal. So please, can you forgive me." He held his hand together in front of himself as he said that, almost sounding like he was begging her.

The two just stared at each other before Blake rolled her eyes playfully before a small grin came t o her face. "I guess I can let you off the hook. But I won't be so forgiving next time."

Jaune just smiled at her, "Got it."

Weiss then cleared her throat in a very dainty way to gain their attention, "With you lover's quarrel over, can we get back to our previous discussion?"

That caused both of them to blush, "Lover's quarrel?! Me and Blake aren't a couple!" Jaune said in a higher pitched voice than he usually spoke in. Blake just nodded beside him but didn't trust her own voice enough to speak up.

"Really?" Weiss asked in a tone that just dripped with skepticism. Her eye narrowed slightly before she shrugged, "Fine. If you two aren't ready to have your relationship public, that's fine."

Before Jaune could defend them, Ruby chimed in with her own opinion, "Yeah, I think all of us are fine with you two dating. I think you two look cute together."

"That's besides the point. Ruby, trust me, we are just friends." Blake was the one to speak up this time.

"Then why did you let him hug you? And you even hugged him back. You never do that unless you absolutely have to." Ruby continued on with her reasoning on why they were a couple.

"Yeah! I was sure you two were together." Nora added as she jumped back onto his back, nearly causing him to faceplant into the ground. "I mean, there is no shame if you two aren't together-together. A lot of people are together but not together-together. There's nothing wrong with that." Mostly everyone who knew her was not buying her trying to hide her feelings for her longtime friend and partner.

Jaune looked past her to Ren, who just seemed to want to stay out of this entire situation. He looked over to Pyrrha as his last ally but she just gave him a nervous smile in return, "You two do seem to have a very close relationship, it makes sense why someone would think you two are a couple."

Jaune turned back to Blake who was blushing just as hard as he was. When her eyes met his she looked away in embarrassment. He had enough of that and cleared his throat, "Okay moving on." He said in a stern tone that none of them were expecting. He then cleared his throat, "Anyways, we were just talking about how I need to make up the work I missed last semester over the break."

"An entire semesters worth of material in only a couple of weeks?" Weiss asked, slightly concerned. "Are you going to be able to accomplish that?"

Jaune shrugged, "I think I should be fine. I know a good amount about Grimm and the basics of Dust. History would be my real issue but Pyrrha had just offered to help me out with that."

"Well, if you need help with Dust study, you can ask Weiss." Ruby happily volunteered her partner. "She knows so much and she has been helping me out with some of my studying habits."

Weiss just narrowed her eyes at her partner, "Ruby, please don't offer my assistance without clearing it with me first." She then turned back to Jaune with a more polite smile, "But regardless, my dolt of a leader does have a point. As a favor to Blake, I wouldn't mind giving you a hand with your studying."

Jaune just smiled, "I'm in no position to decline. Thanks, Weiss."

She just gave a prideful smile, "It is no issue. We'll begin tomorrow. Do _not_ be late."

He just nodded, "Wouldn't dream of it. It's getting close to dinner, right? Should be head to the cafeteria?"

"Yes please." Nora whined. "I'm starving! Haven't eaten since lunch."

Everyone just smiled at her antics and they all made their way to the cafeteria. As they were walking, Jaune's eyes slowly panned over to Blake and just lingered on her. He felt his chest tighten a bit and he just sighed to himself. 'I think they are all right. I do have some feelings for Blake. Hopefully, this turns out better than the rest of my relationships. There is just something about her and I don't want to mess up.' With that he steeled himself and was going to be ready to ask her out at the right time.


End file.
